Legend
by The BlackStaff and NightMarE
Summary: Extreme positions are not relieved by more moderate ones, but by extreme opposite positions. One Extreme are the Legendaries. Who is the other? Follow the path of Ash Ketchum, with a dragon in tow, in a world that seeks his ruin. Starts with Kanto Arc.
1. A different starter

**AUTHOR NOTE: Before you get started to reading this story, I'd like to clear out a couple of things.**

 **One. I don't really have anything against Pikachu in general, but I decided to get Ash a different starter. Personally, I would've liked a preference for a particular type than a generalist as happens in most fanfictions. There are some things that you might want to keep in mind while reading this story.**

 **Two. In this AU, trainers get their licences at 14, at least in Kanto region. I confess that I cannot really write like an eleven-year-old, nor are eleven-year-olds especially expressive or witty (to my knowledge).**

 **Three. This world is much harsher than canon, so you might expect to find character death in general. I've tried to make Ash a little more… introspective, and a little less stupid than canon.**

 **Four. Ash does NOT have Aura in this story, nor is he a BORN PSYCHIC or able to POKESPEAK or anything like that.**

 **Five. This story is not limited to the leagues, and gym battles. Please keep that in mind.**

 **Six. For those who want to see the canon captures, please stop reading right now. You might just not find them.**

 **And lastly. This is not canon. And thus, please do not relate the strengths, tactics, battling styles and power, of both pokémon and trainers compared to the anime or the games.**

 **Okay, that was all. Thank you for bearing up with me if you have been reading the above. Now on to the story.**

* * *

 _ **"Get him to the ICU, quickly. His nerves are flaring."**_

This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. After all, one only turns fourteen once, and once that day has come to pass, it is time to finally appear for the Pokémon Trainer Examination. Ash had barely managed to scrap through the theory portions, though the practical ones were an all-out-blaze. After all, who needed the boring theory when one had pokémon battles to take part?

 _ **"His nervous system is giving in! Fetch the super potion immediately!"**_

Now that he thought of it, he had always wanted a Charmander. After all, those stubborn, little orange fire-breathing lizards were the ones that evolved into the powerful pseudo-dragons of Kanto. Of course, the evolved versions of the other starters, namely Venusaur and Blastoise, were undeniably powerful in their own way, but nothing beat the _awesomeness_ that was Charizard.

He had never quite known his father, not even heard his name so to say. For as long as he could remember, his mom had always been Professor Oak's assistant, and hence, little Ash Ketchum had looked up to Lance Wataru, the Pokémon Champion of Kanto and Johto regions, the most powerful Dragon Master in the world. Ash could sit and wax lyrical all day about the man's team- the dream team- Dragonite, Charizard, Dragonair, Gyarados, Kingdra, and Flygon. Or at least, that was the team that Lance ever displayed in public.

" _When I become the Champion, my team will be one full of dragons as well."_ His little ambition. Make out whatever you want from it.

Or at least, that was the plan.

 _ **"Chansey, I will need some heal powder. Ampharos, we need to stabilize the excess flaring of his nerves."**_

 _"Ash, I uh… had to give away some of the Kanto starters to Professor Sycamore of Kalos. Maybe if you could wait a week or three, I could probably get you a charmander from the next batch."_

He stared blankly at Professor Oak, as feelings of resentment flooded through him. "Two… three weeks? That would be forever, Professor Oak. Gary would already have gotten his first badge at least."

The older man looked back with a slightly disappointed face. "I'm sorry, Ash. I am unable to get you a starter as of now."

 _None of them? Maybe I could get a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur and catch a charmander on the way…._ He mused furiously.

" _Pfft!"_ The more cynical part of his mind scoffed. _"Catch a charmander on the way? What do you think they are? Rattata?"_

"Please professor, can't you do anything?" He pleaded again.

Oak cast a thoughtful expression. "Come to think of it, there is a pokémon. But…" He paused, "I'm… not sure if giving it to you would be a good idea."

"Huh?" Ash protested indignantly. "Why not, Professor? I can take care of any pokémon."

 _Doesn't he have that much trust in me?_

"It's not about you, Ash, but about this pokémon. It's… quite difficult. I cannot, on my conscience, give it to you as a starter."

"Try me!" On second thought, fourteen-year-olds weren't that intimidating, but it seemed to work well enough for the old man. That, or Oak had run out of excuses.

"All right, follow me!"

* * *

 _ **"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ketchum. He is currently comatose, his mind barely functioning, held**_ _ **by psychic energies, and his vitals are unstable. You cannot see him."**_

 _ **"But, I just want-"**_

 _ **"I'm sorry." The patient voice continued. "You shall have to wait. This treatment as you know… is rather new. We cannot allow any kind of interference."**_

 _A Pikachu?_

He had expected something out of the common, maybe a rogue Spearow from the forest, or maybe a Nidoran or even worse, a Rhyhorn of all things. Not that he had anything either of them, but they weren't Charmander. Full stop. But… Pikachu? Pikachu weren't exactly common in Kanto, and usually tended to be found in flocks somewhere closer to Mount Mortar or in the off skirts of Chrysanthemum Island. . That he knew this just showed how dedicated he really was. Who remembered something like this, even if they never thought they would need it?

 _But, a Pikachu, really?_

After their evolution from the adorable and frankly, weak Pichu, Pikachu were pretty versatile and powerful pokémon to begin with, especially if they had passed their so-called 'cute stage'. Yes, initially Pikachu were quite… unhelpful, but this was the stage when they learnt an entire array of moves, and once they were powerful enough, needed a thunder stone to evolve into a Raichu, which were, in effect, one of the most powerful electric types, ever.

"But Pikachu isn't a charmander, Pikachu isn't a dragon." Ash didn't say.

It was a difficult choice. One that he felt, was too soon for him to take. He had always wanted a charmander, and now, he could either try to get this Pikachu to be his starter, or… wait forever while Gary gets all the pokémon for himself.

 _No way. No freaking way._

"So what did you decide, Ash?" Professor Oak inquired, pointing at the little yellow rodent. Said rodent was too busy biting into a set of electric wires, feeding off the electricity flowing through them.

"Uhm… I'll take Pikachu, Professor." Ash replied, his best fake smile on his face.

The professor gave him a hard stare. "If you wish." He paused for a moment. "However, you'll need to convince him to join you. Pikachu are generally more… unruly than Pichu."

Ignoring the oddly cynical voice in his head, Ash nodded in agreement.

* * *

That was around ten days ago.

Ash Ketchum sat up straight, his back supported by the wall, as he pulled the covers of his bed. From what he had been told, he had been electrocuted by the tiny rodent, enough to maim his limbs and send his nerves into a frenzy, no thanks to the powerful electrical impulses raging through them. Apparently, he had been driven into a violent spasm and lost voluntary control over any and all bodily function, rendering himself completely comatose. It was only because Professor Oak had managed to stop Pikachu (literally), all thanks to the rapid reaction time of the old man and the near-unparalleled psychic strength of his Alakazam, he had been able to put his body into a- _psychic stasis was it?_ Anyway, he had apparently been comatose for three days straight, before finally regaining consciousness. The doctors had… treated him with a newly patented therapy (he still wasn't sure if he should be happy or afraid that the doctors had taken his dying self as an adequate lab rat) - and after four more days, he had been declared good enough to return back home, with all the time to consider his new status in the world.

Fourteen, and with a trainer's licence, and a failure.

Gary must have already conquered the Viridian and Pewter Gyms and gotten the badges, or worse, he might even have gotten to Cerulean and gotten the next badge as well. That was without considering the number of awesome and powerful pokémon he might have caught already on the way. Gary, Leaf, Jonathan… all of them now had a headstart on him, and he, the failure Ash Ketchum, was sitting on his bed, moping about his misfortune.

"Ash?"

The familiar voice shook him out of his reveries. Standing at the doorway, was Professor Oak.

"Professor?" Ash wished in a rather… uncertain voice.

'How are you, Ash?" The white-haired, sixty-ish man, dressed in blazing white coat as always, stepped into the room, wearing a slightly strenuous expression.

Ash just raised his shoulders, before drooping them. "As always. Mom said I could go out in a couple of days."

"I'm really sorry, Ash… about what happened." Oak began.

"Hey- hang on, why are you apologising?" Ash moved towards the man in confusion. "I don't-"

"I should've seen that coming, Ash." Oak returned apologetically. "I should've known better than to try get that Pikachu as your starter."

Ash frowned at the mention of the rodent. "But that's not your fault." He pushed himself off the bed, his legs still slightly weakened, as he stood, supporting his weight on the hard bed. "I was the one who asked for it."

"And I am the experienced Pokémon professor here." Oak refuted. "I should've known better than to go ahead with the whim of a fourteen-year-old."

"But-" Ash whimpered a little, before he changed the topic. "What's going to happen to the Pikachu?"

"I'll let him stay at the coral for now. If it turns out worse, I'll probably have to ship him to a Pokémon Reserve, under care of the Rangers."

"Oh." Ash replied in a hollow voice. "Then, I suppose I just lost my only starter."

"Pikachu wasn't your starter, Ash." Oak returned passionately. "It was just… a mistake I made in my enthusiasm and nonchalance."

"Alright, I understand all that, and I promise to look up nonchalance the first chance I get to open a dictionary, but the fact remains that I just lost my only chance at a starter. I mean… you yourself said that the next batch of starters aren't due yet."

"True." Oak nodded. "And in all possibility, the new batch might be taking a little longer to arrive."

Ash's countenance fell.

"However," The professor continued. "Considering everything that has happened, I feel that I am to blame for your… injuries," he raised a finger to stop the boy from refuting, "regardless of your justifications, I feel I must make up for it." The man had a strange gleam in his eyes.

That shut him up, as he waited with baited breath for the man to continue.

"As you might remember, I had sent the current batch of Kanto starters to Professor Sycamore for his studies on Pokémon Evolution. In return, however, I asked him to deliver me a pokémon, specifically, one for you."

Ash pushed himself up against the bed, sitting with his back against the pillow to pay his undivided attention to the man. "A pokémon native to the Kalos region?"

"Not quite, though this pokémon is indeed found in Kalos, if you know where to search. Though, it is actually a native of the Hoenn region." The older man explained with a flourish. "Now… this isn't exactly charmander, but it is indeed a _dragon._ "

Ash blinked.

Then blinked again.

A _dragon?_ An honest-to-god _dragon?_ The man was kidding, wasn't he?

"You are not kidding, are you?" He asked slowly, fearing to even accept the fact.

"Certainly not, Ash." The professor's lips lit up with a smile. "Tell me, how would you like to have a Bagon for your starter?"

* * *

 **Bagon. The baby dragon pokémon. Bagon has a dream of one day soaring in the skies. In doomed efforts to fly, this Pokémon hurls itself off cliffs. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel.**

The pokedex Dexter, one that now belonged to Ash Ketchum, went on.

 **This Bagon is male, and knows the move set leer, head butt, ember and rage. It has the unlocked egg move Dragon Pulse.**

"So Ash…" The sly old man drawled. "Do I take it that you are happy with your starter?"

 _Happy? Happy? Is this man kiddin' me?_

"This is… This is an actual dragon pokémon?" Ash gushed.

"Indeed it is, and quite rare. Its' final evolution forms are rather frightening, and on par with the strongest Charizard."

Pfft! Ash scoffed internally. _Nothing beats Charizard._ You just needed to see Lance's Charizard in action to sediment that fact in your mind forever.

The professor took the pokedex and hit a couple of buttons. "I have programmed this pokedex so that it can recognize both Kanto and Johto pokémon, though you might find some Hoenn ones enlisted as well. It's far from perfect, and it might… occasionally fail to recognize some, but this is the best I have so far. Perhaps after a couple of months when I am done with acquiring enough licenses to get access to the other region's pokémon database for my invention, then I might be able to get you an upgrade."

"It's great, professor." Ash gushed. He was a newbie trainer. He was starting out with a dragon. He had a device that recognized pokémon from the entire Kanto, Johto and then more, and revealed more than enough information that he could possibly have memorized himself. What more could he even want?

Oak paid no heed as he turned the pokedex towards Ash. "Check this out."

On the wide screen, there was the pictorial representation of a large, blue and red dragon with orange wings.

 **Salamence. The flying dragon pokémon. It is the final evolution of Bagon. When enraged, Salamence loses all control and begins destroying whatever comes near.**

"It's the Hoenn equivalent of Dragonite." Oak confirmed. "While slightly shorter in size than your average Charizard, it is just as powerful as a Dragonite when trained well."

Ash's eyes turned into saucers. As powerful as a Dragonite?

"Yes," The professor emphasized, subconsciously answering his unasked query. "And are capable of going further with evolution as well."

Ash's face scrunched. Further with evolution? "What do you mean, Professor?"

Oak sighed. "I forgot that you aren't as well versed with theory as with battling. Theory has its benefits, Ash Ketchum. If you would have paid a little more attention to what I have been working on at my lab, instead of playing with Poliwag, then you'd know what I'm talking about."

Ash gave a mature reply to that. By rolling his eyes.

"Anyway," Oak continued without skipping a beat. "It is what Professor Sycamore is studying, anyway. The prospect of a fully-evolved pokémon to evolve further, and attain power-levels, features and characteristics through artificial means." He paused for a second." Mega Evolution."

"Mega—Evolution." Ash repeated the words in his mouth. "And Bagon is capable of doing that?"

"Once he is fully evolved to Salamence, and is powerful enough, yes. We are living in exciting times, Ash. Exciting times." His enthusiasm was contagious. "If you want to know more about it, you'll have to ask Professor Sycamore about it, but the tests have only just begun. Maybe with the correct training, pokémon like Charizard or Blastoise might be able to mega-evolve as well."

"Mega Evolution." Ash repeated inside his mind.

* * *

 **Four days later.**

"Are you ready, Ash?" Professor Oak asked the overly enthusiastic kid in front of him.

"As ready as I can ever be, Professor." Ash returned, without missing a beat. He was standing here, dressed up and ready with his backpack. The league provided backpacks for pokémon trainers at cheap costs when they passed out with flying colours in the Trainer certifying exams. These… backpacks, were in effect, built using the same folded-space technology that allowed tiny pokeballs to hold within them, the much larger pokémon in suspended animation. The standard backpack, which was barely over two feet in length, had enough space to hold several travel-bags worth of substance, which for young trainers, meant more than enough space to contain several sets of clothes, ropes, potions and medicines, a knife or two, food, sleeping bags, tents and importantly, large repositories of pokémon food, potions and reserves. Straightening the official Pokémon league Cap on his head, he turned towards the little baby dragon on his right. "Ready to go, Bagon?"

"Gon." The baby dragon emphasized, the solid crust on top of his head glowing in the sunlight as if it were made of steel.

"Very well." The old man replied amiably. He took out a pokedex from within his robes, and returned it to Ash. "Your pokedex. I expect you'll make good use of it."

Pokedex. The most famous invention in the past century, one that pushed Samuel Oak's fame to the skies. A supercomputer connected to the man's immensely detailed and expansive research database, one that contained information on Pokémon in and out of Kanto. It was still incomplete, of course, and the old Professor had the habit of giving out Pokedexes to important people, like the Elite Four of Kanto and other regions, and importantly, the Champions. Ash knew that he should consider himself extremely lucky to have gotten his hands on one.

"The pokedex will also act as proof about your license as a trainer, as well as help you in case you run into a tight spot. I am sure that any Pokémon center will recognize this device when they see one, and contact me if needed."

Ash bobbed his head. "I will."

"Now," The old man had a mischievous glint in his eye. "Gary has informed me that he has already won the Boulder Badge, and has set his eyes to Cerulean city." He made an intentional pause, enjoying the pale look on the boy's face. "He also might have mentioned something about having caught twenty pokémon."

"… So what?" Ash had had enough. "I have a dragon as my starter. He doesn't. Besides, his pokémon are all freshly caught. Me and Bagon can defeat all his pokémon, wont we Bagon?"

The baby dragon agreed enthusiastically.

The old man smirked. "I believe that his starter… Squirtle, has already evolved."

"…."

"…."

 _Oh dear, I might have pushed it a little too much._ The old man mused.

Ash was bubbling with anger and jealousy… "Rrrr…." He gave up one thinly veiled glare at the older man, snatched the pokedex from his hand and put it into his pocket. "I'll show you, Professor. I'll defeat that grandson of yours, you'll see."

Oak merely raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go, Bagon." Ash half-snapped.

"Bag-gon."

He picked up the baby dragon with great enthusiasm, and began running.

And running….

And stopping….

"Err… Bagon?" Ash asked with uncertainty. "Would you mind returning to your pokeball? You aren't exactly… light and everything, you know."

"…. Bagon." The baby chirped.

* * *

The worn-out, dirty road that led to Route 1 left Ash somewhere near the entrance of the forests that outlined the north-west boundary of Pallet Town. Ash had released Bagon out of the pokeball, allowing said blue dragon to slowly walk beside him. It wouldn't go on for long, considering its heavy weight, stubby paws and slow speed… it was bound to fall tired after a while. Still, Ash had no issues with slowing down a little if it meant spending more time with his adorable starter.

"So Bagon, I ever tell you about my dream to become a Pokémon Master?"

Bagon nodded, rolling his eyes, or at least what eye-rolling meant for a Bagon anyway. His trainer might have mentioned the topic some… _twenty times?_ Over the last three days? He didn't truly mind, considering that the trainer boy was much more… comfortable to be with than he expected.

"I cannot wait to catch other pokémon, train them and be the best pokémon trainer in the world. Then, I will go and challenge Lance."

Right. Lance. Bagon remembered seeing this 'human clad in red' on the television. His trainer had been… talking, a lot about this red-clad man. Besides, he did have several powerful dragons at his side, and Bagon would die before allowing his dragon-pride to be wounded by losing to those dragons. He would train with Ash, grow stronger, and evolve into a mighty Salamence, and when he did, he would be able to soar through the skies like he always wanted. However, that was for later and Ash was talking.

"-Gary might have caught twenty or more pokémon, but I am not interested in that." Ash muttered, more to himself than to his starter. "I mean, of course, I'd like to catch them all, but…" He turned towards his starter. "I only want to catch the ones, the ones which give off the feeling of being… being something special, you know."

Bagon nodded, though he was outright confused about what his trainer meant.

"I mean… I think there's this feeling in me that says that, _that's the pokémon I wanna catch_. I want to make an impressive team, and then together, we'll go take part in the Indigo Conference."

The dragon shook his head. He did catch the Conference part. He had seen on television, how powerful pokémon fought each other in front of hundreds of people. He wondered how he would fare against them now.

"And that is why, we need to train. I want to help you become the strongest Salamence… ever."

Now that Bagon could agree on. He turned towards his trainer and barked agreeably.

* * *

The forests lining Pallet town were home to several native Kanto pokémon. Many a trainer often captured a Pidgey from a flying horde, and if not, then a Catterpie or a Rattata is a rather easy game. Though it was nothing like the Viridian forest of course, the forest path did have the advantage of being a shortcut to Viridian city, the only other alternative being to take the steamer that took a total of three days to reach Viridian. Already being late in the first place, there was no reason for Ash to slow himself any further, and hence, took the path through the forest.

"This forest is supposed to have hordes of flying pokémon." Ash mused loudly, "I am not sure why the entire place feels so silent."

Bagon agreed, rubbing his tougher-than-steel head against the ground in a rather comical fashion.

"We'll need to begin your training shortly. I've heard that the Pewter Gym leader uses only rock types. We need an ace to fight against him."

The dragon grunted in agreement. Well, perhaps.

A rustling of leaves to the right made the conversation pause right there. He paused, turned around, and took a step back. Almost gleefully, he turned towards his starter.

"Think it's a pokémon?"

The dragon grunted in agreement.

"Alright, Bagon. Use ember." Ash commanded, as the baby dragon let out a tiny screech, before emitting out tiny balls of fire at rapid speed out of its mouth, all of them projected towards the thick clump of bushes.

"Hey wait, Wha-", came a surprised voice, before said person fell over his back, having been hit with the ember attack right on the face. "What's the big idea?"

Ash blinked. This wasn't a pokémon. It seemed like another trainer, another guy dressed in shades of red walking the streets just like him, and at his side was a-

Pikachu.

Almost instinctively, a dark scowl marred his face.

"What's the big idea?" Said pokémon trainer who had gotten off the ground retorted with indignation. "Why did you attack me like that?"

"Uh… sorry!" Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, doing his best not to stare at the electric rodent on the boy' shoulder. "Sorry, I thought it might have been a pokémon behind the bushes."

"Eheh…" The other boy chuckled oddly. "That's all right. Sparky and I were thinking there might be a pokémon on this side of the bush as well."

 _Sparky?_

"Hi, I'm Ritchie." The boy replied enthusiastically. "And this," he nodded towards the Pikachu, who leapt from his right shoulder to the left, "is Sparky."

"Pik—ka!"

 _Oh._

"I'm… I'm Ash, and this is my Bagon." He pointed towards the baby dragon on the ground.

"A… Bagon? What's that? Never heard of such a pokémon before." The boy, Ritchie asked in confusion.

"He's from the Hoenn region." Ash returned enthusiastically. "And he's my starter."

"Ah, so where are you from?"

"Pallet town." Ash answered, raising his right hand in direction of the town that was around two miles away. They were standing on a higher terrain, and past the flowing river, the beautiful town of Pallet was distinctly visible in the evening light.

"I'm from Frodomar city." Ritchie replied with pride in his voice. "So… you must be participating in the Indigo Conference eh?"

Ash's face hung at that. "Nah not really. I just started my journey today."

"Today?" Ritchie frowned. "I thought I saw some people from Pallet town like… two weeks ago, in Pewter city. Aren't you a bit, I don't know… late or something?"

"Yeah, well, long story." Ash dismissed the topic. "Are you a new trainer as well?"

"Not so sure about new," Ritchie boasted. "I have been on the field for months now. Already got two badges."

 _Two already?_ Ash did his level best to not hyper-salivate at the thought. "So what are you doin' here?"

"Ah… well," Ritchie looked away in embarrassment. "I heard rumours about a Scyther nearby, and was hoping to catch it. That was two days ago, and I am still… um."

"So you're lost." Ash pronounced.

"Not lost!" Ritchie complained defiantly. "Just, a little confused about which road to take."

 _Of course you are._ "I'm going to Viridian city from here." Ash exclaimed.

"Viridian, nice place." Ritchie agreed. "I do hope that you aren't planning to challenge the gym leader, right?"

"Yeah, I am." Ash looked confused. "What about it?"

Ritchie scowled. "I tried my hand at it. The gym leader isn't interested in battling anyone who hasn't had seven badges yet."

Seven badges huh? That means his team must be really strong. He considered Ritchie again. "How many pokémon do you have so far?"

Ritchie smirked. "See for yourself." He pulled out the tiny pokeballs from his belt, and yelled," come out everyone."

There were multiple bursts of light as the pokémon were released out, each of them condensing into their respective sizes. There was a Butterfree, a Zubat, a Tentacruel and a…

Charmander.

"Wow," Ash gushed, doing his best to not show the jealousy in his mind. "So many pokémon."

"Yep." Ritchie agreed. "Meet Happy," he pointed towards the Butterfree which trilled, "Zippo," he indicated the charmander, "I am yet to find a good name for Zubat and Tentacruel though." He finished lamely.

 _He named a Charmander after a Lighter? Seriously?_

"Where did you find a Zubat?" Ash asked, ignoring the irrepressible urge to snort at the other boy's naming conventions. By definition, Zubat were primarily found in clusters, usually inside mountain caves. Considering that the nearest mountain was…..

"Mount moon." Ritchie answered at the same time as Ash came to his own independent conclusion. "This little thing has been rather good at helping me find directions. I confess I'm quite the expert at getting lost now and then."

Said pokémon agreed in its own way, swerving left and right.

"What about you?"

"Just Bagon, so far." Ash returned with a shrug. "Hey, tell you what? Let's have a battle between you and me. What do' a say?"

Ritchie smirked. "You are on." Then, suddenly, he frowned. "But wait a second, what type of pokémon is your- Bagon was it?"

The baby dragon repeated his name in indignation.

"He's a dragon." Ash returned with pride. "My dragon."

"A dragon… eh?" Ritchie muttered with surprise, before a smirk appeared on his face. "Good to know." Bracing himself, he yelled, "Zippo, I choose you."

"Char!" The fire lizard growled with enthusiasm, as it jumped a few steps up front, ready for battle. Ash observed how brightly the flame on its tail was burning. It was a sign of its health and nearing evolution.

Charmander versus Bagon, eh? Maybe this will tell whether the professor was serious or not. "Alright, I choose you, Bagon."

Said pokémon was already up and ready, facing charmander with a mad shine in its eyes.

"All right Zippo, use ember at Bagon." Ritchie began.

"Jump." Ash commanded, and almost at the very last instant, the tiny dragon jumped high up, by least three feet, a surprise considering its heavy weight. "Now head butt on Charmander!"

The baby dragon coordinated its location mid-air as it jumped down with gained momentum, down towards the lizard, which stood on the ground.

"Use flame burst."

The ball of flames emitted from the lizard's mouth met head-on with Bagon's sharp head, causing a miniature explosion. From within the smoke, came out the tiny missile that was bagon, hitting Charmander face-first, banishing it away.

"Whoa, that flame burst didn't affect it at all." Ritchie exclaimed in shock. "All right, Zippo, use metal claw."

"Use head-butt again, with full force."

With a speed unbelievable for someone of its physical features, the tiny dragon raced towards the Charmander, who was coming up towards him in return, its sharp claws glowing with power.

The two attacks collided midway, as Zippo's metal claw hit Bagon's head with full force, the resulting collision pushing back both backwards.

"What's that head made up of?" Ritchie asked, frowning. "No worries, Zippo. Flame thrower."

"Ember."

The two attacks faced each other, with flame thrower getting the better of its opponent, as it struck bagon face-first, hurling it away as it hit the ground with immense force. After the smoke dispersed, the signs of indisposition were clear for Bagon, while Charmander stood its ground, breathing heavily.

"I… lost?" Ash muttered.

The fire lizard groaned, before losing all strength and falling down flat onto the ground.

"The flame thrower must have taken everything out of him." Ritchie muttered, walking up to his pokémon and pulling it into his arms. "You did well, Zippo. Have some rest now."

The fire lizard groaned, as it got sucked into its pokeball.

"I must say, Ash." Ritchie laughed. "That's one hell of a pokémon you got there. Zippo's won me most of my battles, and your starter tired him out. That baby dragon does pack a hell of a punch."

He does, doesn't he? Ash thought to himself, caressing his Bagon. "Do you want to get some rest, Bagon?"

The dragon pokémon accepted with a nod, before getting sucked into its pokeball.

"Thanks for the battle, Ritchie." Ash smiled gratefully. "At least I know just how far I have to go to train Bagon now."

"And don't you forget it. If you make it to the League, then you'll face me there for sure."

"And I'll win, next time. You'll see." Ash countered exuberantly.

"Promises, promises." Ritchie waved his enthusiasm away. "Anyway, I heard that this place got a nasty flock of Spearow, but I don't see any."

"There used to be one." Ash answered without missing a beat. "Professor Oak got rid of them with his Dragonite when he heard about them attacking trainers out of nowhere."

"You know Professor Oak?" Ritchie asked, impressed.

"Of course, he's the one who gave me my Bagon." Ash returned.

"Damn. Some people have all the luck." The other boy muttered, though his grin showed that he wasn't serious. "So no Spearow then." Ritchie pronounced in disappointment.

"Nothing like that. Professor said that there was this large Fearow who was ruling over the Spearow flock. He defeated and caught it. So, I suppose you might still find a Spearow here and there, just not a nasty flock anymore."

"Ah." Ritchie nodded at his answer. "Well then, Ash. See you again then."

"But Viridian city is this way." Ash asked, puzzled.

"The Scyther, remember? I want to catch it." Ritchie explained with a laugh. "See you later."

"Later." Ash muttered, seeing the slowly fading image of the trainer, as he turned away and began walking the forest path.

* * *

"See this? This is the highest point on this land." Ash exclaimed as he stood on the edge of the cliff overlooking the river. From one side, there was a thin winding road that went down to the base of the cliff, leading to the bridge over the river, leading to Viridian city.

"This is like… the most dangerous place in all of Pallet." Ash continued. "My mum's Mr. Mime once threw me down from here to the river, before catching me midway. That thing's… always hated me."

"Bagon." The dragon answered, something else going on, on its mind.

"Seriously, like what kind of normal pokémon would do that? Imagine if one would fall down this thing even by mistake. It would mean sure dea- hey, what are you doing with that pacing-"

"Bae—gon!" Said baby dragon had paced back a few steps, readying itself, jumped head-first down the steep cliff, into the rocky shore beneath.

"Bagon!" Ash yelled in terror, as he muddled his way, running and tumbling down the windy road until he had reached the base of the cliff, panting and completely out of breath. "Bagon!" he shouted again.

"Bae-" came a disappointed voice. From within the broken chunks of rock, walked out his familiar baby dragon, grunting in disappointment.

 **Bagon will often jump down cliffs in doomed efforts to fly. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel.**

The source of that information was his own pokedex, still in his pocket. "Thanks, Dexter." Ash murmured softly, as he walked up to his starter and laid a hand on the dragon's head.

"So you want to fly eh?"

A disappointed grunt came in response.

"Then your worries have come to an end, my friend." Ash returned with contagious enthusiasm. "You've got me, and together we will make sure you evolve quickly. And when you do, you will have your wings and be able to fly."

For once, the words of his trainer touched a raw nerve inside the tiny dragon. His trainer's enthusiasm was truly contagious, he would give him that. Perhaps… perhaps, it wasn't that bad of an idea to have a trainer like Ash after all. Looking up, he gave a grin as he answered, "Bae-gon!"

"Yes!" Ash returned. "Now all we need is to-bluhbluhbluh-" Whatever he wanted to say was left unsaid, as a torrent of water shot straight up to his face, hitting him face-first as he fell on the ground.

"Hey, what's with the-?" His indignation stopped midway, as he observed the tiny blue tadpole standing in front of him. Besides the slightly purple tail wagging at its posterior, the tadpole had a swirl of black on its front.

"Poli!" The tadpole pokémon barked.

"Wow, a Poliwag." Ash got up, grinning, opening up his pokedex.

 **Poliwag, the tadpole pokémon. Poliwag has a very thin skin. It is possible to see the Pokémon's spiral innards right through the skin. Despite its thinness, however, the skin is also very flexible. Even sharp fangs bounce right off it.**

"That's right, I'm so going to catch it. You are going to be my replacement for the Poliwag at the camp." He exclaimed. "Get ready, Bagon. We have a new opponent."

The baby dragon barked, standing ready for his next command.

"Okay, Bagon. Head butt." Ash ordered, holding out an extra pokeball in hand, ready to catch the tadpole.

The dragon shot towards the tadpole, the top of his head shining brightly, as it raced towards its opponent.

"Poli?" The tadpole crooked his eyes in confusion, before suddenly sidestepping at the very last moment, and firing a jet of water gun at Bagon's back, sending him tumbling into the water. He barked again, hurling another jet of water at Ash, hurling him back onto the ground, again. The water jet knocked the pokeball from his hand, as it fell onto the rocky shore, tumbling and rolling down until it reached Poliwag's tail.

The tadpole stood musing at the strange little sphere, as he hit the queer-looking ball with its tail, right exactly on the capture button. The ball opened, and in a bright jet of light, Poliwag was captured inside it. The ball shook for a moment.

"Hey, I'm going to get back to-" Ash yelled, as he got himself up, before he stopped midway, looking at the pokeball.

"Ding…."

Meanwhile, Bagon was barking himself mad, somehow managing to get himself stay afloat in the water, as it looked in alert, wondering where its opponent had vanished.

"I guess… we captured a Poliwag, Bagon."

"Bae?"

* * *

"So… this is Viridian city." Ash muttered to himself, as he witnessed the sky-scraping buildings all around him, quite a contrast compared to the expansive grasslands that abounded Pallet town. It had taken him another couple of hours to finally cross the outskirts of the city and reach into its heart. That, and the time they had taken to stop for a quick meal. God knew the two had had a very rough day. He had taken the time to get to know his starter a little better.

Quite surprisingly, Poliwag hadn't been much of a pain over its getting captured. That was without, of course, considering the jet of water it had drenched Ash with, its first activity after getting out of the pokeball. Once it was made clear about how Ash was a trainer, and he had captured it, and would help it grow, Poliwag had decided to go with the flow as well.

Then again, water pokémon were quite friendly that way. The Poliwag at the camp sure was one!

"First step. Pokémon center." He mumbled to himself.

At first sight, there was nothing spectacular about Pokémon centers. Aside from the whitewashed walls outside and in, and the giant pokeball banner on top, it was pretty much the same as any other hotel or private clinic. There was a large help desk on the front, and behind it, stood a pink-haired nurse clad in white. Then again, he was probably too sore to notice anything at all.

* * *

Pokémon centers were, in effect, the official pokémon hospitals and hostels for visiting trainers. Once a person passed the trainer exam and acquired his licence, any Pokémon center in Kanto was obliged to get him free food and lodging while he stayed there (the maximum time limit being three days) alongside any and all kind of medical help that the trainer and/or his pokémon might have warranted. Considering that most newbie trainers got their pokémon injured as a result of battling the gym leaders, the pokémon centers were usually built close enough to the gym for quick rejuvenation of both trainer's pokémon and the gym leader's, though the latter often had their own medical equipment and facilities. As for the trainers, all you needed was proper identification, a problem that was solved by Professor Oak's highly advanced Pokedex.

"I'm Nurse Joy. I'll need to check your identification, please." The pink-haired woman spoke in a mild tone.

Ash handed over his pokedex, and watched her place it into a slot designed specifically for that device. She ran his identification over the Pokémon league database, making sure he wasn't some kind of fraud- a rather good approach considering the increasing cases of fraud happening all around- before returning the device back, along with a key card.

"Room 13, Mr. Ketchum. You're all set." She cast a passing glance at the tiny pokémon standing beside him, and continued. "Do you want me to check your pokémon for injuries and the like?"

"Uh, yes please." Ash replied.

Casting a sideward glance at Bagon, he took out its pokeball, and sucked it in. Pulling out Poliwag's pokeball out as well, he handed both to the Nurse, who registered them to his Trainer ID.

"I'll send for you when your pokémon are ready, Mr. Ketchum."

"Thanks… err… Nurse Joy."

The nurse gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Room 13." And with that, the rest of the conversation was cut short.

* * *

The rest of the evening was spent in registering himself for the Indigo Circuit, one that required him to acquire any eight badges from a total of eleven gyms located in eleven different cities, all of them registered with the Indigo League. Once a trainer was done collecting eight badges, he was eligible to register himself for the Indigo Conference which was held every year at Indigo Stadium, the humongous edifice built on a single monolith on the apex of Indigo Plateau. For someone like him, it was the logical (and economical) thing to collect the badges from the cities closest to him, which happened to be Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion, Saffron, Celadon, Fuchsia, Cinnabar and Viridian. Also, all of these cities were near the Indigo Plateau, and were home to several kinds of pokémon, unlike the ones like Frodomar city, which was in itself, more like an industry belt than a niche for wild pokémon. Ash had also spent some time refilling his rations for himself and pokémon, as well as acquiring some medicinal supplies in advance. From general knowledge, it was more probable to come across other trainers, and thus, challenges (and money to be made), which meant that there was a good chance of his pokémon getting hurt or worse.

The next morning, Ash found himself in the main lobby, waiting in line to get his pokémon back. Poliwag had been a ball of positivity, and bagon himself looked ready to jump off another cliff, given the chance. Thanking the kind nurse for her help, Ash turned and walked out of the place.

First stop: Viridian forest, or as it was better known, the haven of bug pokémon.

 _I wonder why Ritchie was looking for a scyther back there. Chances of finding it are better over here than there._

He had left the city lanes, and was trudging along the grassy path that led to the Viridian forest, one that ran parallel to a thin stream connecting Viridian city to Ecruteak City in the Johto region. Both Bagon and Poliwag had had a full breakfast earlier in the morning, which meant that there was no need to take a break for a while.

 _Now that I think of it…._

"Poliwag, come out." He clicked the pokeball, letting the tadpole out in front of him.

The tadpole looked at him in confusion.

"I just… forgot to check up a couple of things." Ash replied, slightly embarrassed at forgetting to check up his new capture's stats. "Hold on a second." He replied, holding the pokedex in front of the tadpole, which looked at it curiously.

 **This Poliwag is male, and knows the moves Water Gun, double slap, bubble and mud shot. Its ability is Water Absorb.**

"That's a… surprisingly good number of moves, Poliwag." Ash congratulated the tadpole. "What do you say, is a demonstration in order?"

"Poli." The tadpole was game.

"Okay…" Ash paused, before an idea hit him. "Poliwag, water gun on the-" His words remained unsaid as he leapt to the side, barely missing the jet of water as it sped past him, hitting the person right behind. Said person was an orange-haired girl, who just happened to be sitting on the bank of the stream, a fishing rod in hand, with the sinker down into the water. The water gun hit her straight on the head, as she yelped out in pain and shock, before losing all resemblance of control and falling head-first into the stream. Bagon, who had apparently decided that this was the right moment to get out of his pokeball, got encouraged by the girl's motions and jumped into the stream as well, with an enthusiastic screech.

Ash face-palmed.

 _I am never going to get a single badge if this continues._

"You absolute moron! What the hell were you thinking?" cried a certain enraged girl, standing in the middle of the stream, her clothes now completely wet, as she held her fishing net in her left hand.

"Uh…. Sorry?"

* * *

 **An hour later…**

"I had no idea you were such a sore loser." Ash deadpanned.

After the redhead had gotten herself out of the stream (and Ash had gotten his baby dragon out as well), the redhead had all but claimed that Ash was a hopeless amateur who had no business in capturing water-type pokémon, who obviously needed a better trainer, someone like her. Also, considering that it had all happened no thanks to a poliwag, which was, for the record, a water-type and thus, her specialty, it would be correct that Ash would hand over Poliwag to her. Ash, who had no love for the girl's declarations, had offered a middle path. Should she be able to defeat him in a one-on-one battle, against his Poliwag to be precise, he would consider her proposition.

Said red-headed girl, whose name happened to be Misty, frowned, before looking away. "It's not my fault. I have been training water pokémon all my life, and I get beaten by a newbie's pokémon." She gave a stink eye to her Psyduck, who looked _fashionably_ oblivious to the world outside its head. Letting out a long-suffering sigh, she lifted her pokeball to recall the duck pokémon.

"Poli." The champion tadpole made his opinion known with pride.

"I wasn't congratulating you." Misty warned, giving the little thing another stink eye.

"Poli?" Poliwag glared back at her.

"Ignore her. She's just sore because she lost to you." Ash rubbed Poliwag on its head.

"Pol-eee." Said tadpole agreed willingly, throwing up a tiny fountain from its mouth. Then again, considering that he was currently sitting, cradled in Ash's arms, throwing up a fountain wasn't the best idea, the jet of water hit his trainer straight on his chin, making him fall onto the ground, making Poliwag fall down on the ground with a thud.

"Poli?" He accused loudly.

"That's your fault and you know it." Ash retorted back.

"Poli." The tadpole fixed him with a bored expression, which Ash translated to Poliwag-speech for 'whatever…'

At least one good thing had come out of it. Misty seemed to have completely lost her rage and was laughing, her hands on her stomach, as she saw the entire interaction happen. Calamity averted, and everything in place, Ash returned Poliwag into his pokeball, as he continued walking with Misty through the grassy path that led into the Viridian forest.

"So tell me… Misty, where are you from?"

"Cerulean." Misty answered with a slight frown. "I was in Viridian for some work, and was returning home, when I decided to fish in for some Magikarp in the stream."

"Magikarp. You want a Gyarados eh?"

Misty rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Yeah, well, I have one, but I would like to start again, if only to get her… a mate."

Ash wondered for a moment how this… awfully young girl would, in any universe, be able to control a Gyarados of all things. The image of Misty petting a Gyarados created a powerful juxtaposition, more than anything he had ever imagined.

"Lance has a Gyarados, and it is way too powerful." Ash spoke, a little awe filling into his voice.

"Lance? As in Champion Lance?"

"The very same." Ash returned with vigour. "Someday I also want to own my own team of dragons, just like him."

"Speaking of dragons, I've never seen a pokémon like the one you have. Where did you get it?" Misty inquired.

"Oh that? That's Bagon, my starter. He's… not from around here."

"Then?"

"Hoenn." Ash specified.

"Pshew!" Misty let out a breath. "I've heard that it's incredibly difficult to properly train a dragon. Gyarados are partly draconic, and even she can be a handful at times."

"You can say that again." Ash muttered to himself.

"So… you must be going to Pewter city." Misty inquired.

"Yep. I want to see how Poliwag and Bagon fare against Brock and his rock pokémon."

"Hmmm. Poliwag is a good choice against rock pokémon. Your Bagon… well, he's draconic, so that's something I guess."

Ash shrugged. "You don't seem to hold that in high regard."

"I love water pokémon, they're simply the best." The girl declared, ignoring Ash's rolling eyes. "Oh, and I hate bugs." She shivered at the mere thought.

That stopped Ash short.

"What?" Misty asked, looking at the stationary trainer.

"Uh… you do realize that this forest is famous for bug pokémon, right?"

"Yes, yes, I didn't know that." Misty returned with a glare. "Thank you for reminding me that we are standing inside a forest filled with creepy, crawling bug pokémon."

" _Okay, that was just overdo."_ Ash didn't say.

"Why do you think I'm travelling with you?" Misty continued without missing a beat. "You got me wet in the stream. You're my insurance as long as we are in the forest."

So that's how it is. "Okay, but I'll tell you first hand that I plan to capture pokémon for myself."

"If it's a bug, just keep them away from me, and we'll be fine." Misty declared.

"Yeah, I got-", Ash's words stopped midway, as he saw something crawling and green on Misty's shoulder. "Uh, Misty-"

"And you are the dragon pokémon tamer over here, and so you'll be keeping me safe from those bugs-"

"Misty-"

"And you'll always walk three steps ahead of me, so that you get to cross those creepy bugs first, and not me-"

"Misty-", Ash tried raising his voice.

"WHAT?" Said girl yelled, "Stop interrupting me when I'm speaking. You shouldn't do that to a girl and why are you pointing at my should-"

Pin-drop silence pervaded the Viridian forest.

The shriek that resonated out the very next second was enough to scare any flock of flying pokémon to a mile away, more because said shrieking girl bumped and raced her way ahead through the forest, leaving the _undeniably_ innocent Catterpie fallen onto the ground, shivering in terror.

* * *

"You know…" Ash muttered to the baby dragon walking slowly beside him. "I think…. Misty might just have run her way out of the forest in one go."

The pokémon tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah, well even I don't know what's with that girl… She was so… hyper, I guess, at everything?"

Bagon simply stared at him, puzzled.

"Never mind." Ash answered back. "Let's get on. You want to get back inside the-?"

There was no point in continuing the sentence. The reason behind that was sitting a few steps ahead, on top of a branch, staring at him with speculative eyes. Now while Ash might have had the best start when it came to flying-type pokémon, he was able to deduce that the one in front of him was interested in battling him.

That, or he was going to have to join Misty in her venture of racing his way out of the forest.

 **Pidgeotto. The bird pokémon, and the evolved form of Pidgey. Pidgeotto claims a large area as its own territory. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its living space. If its territory is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws.**

Said bird was perched on the branch, staring at Ash, who observed from his vantage point, that it was slightly smaller than the average Pidgeotto, which was usually around four feet in height. This one, seemed to be around three feet at most, and could be easily misunderstood to be just an overgrown Pidgey, if not for its specific plume. Another specific thing to note was that its feathers, along with its plume, were radiating a golden sheen, instead of their normal crimson coloration.

 _A shiny Pidgeotto. What are the chances?_

His fingers slipped to his belt, as he clicked the other pokeball, summoning Poliwag out. Holding an empty pokeball in reserve, he stared at the shiny bird in front of him. "Pidgeotto, I challenge you to a battle."

Said bird crooked her head for a moment, before raising her wings and blowing them towards Ash and Company.

Gust. Ash realized. "Bagon, ready for battle. Poliwag use water gun on Pidgeotto."

Thankfully, Poliwag had decided not to pull a prank at this extreme moment, as the tadpole nodded in unison and propelled out a jet of water towards the avian, which flew away, missing the water gun by several inches.

Pidgeotto flew up in the air, missing another jet of water, before its eyes glowed brightly, as it sent out two slashes of energy, cutting through the air towards Ash, who managed to jump his way out, as the waves struck the ground with visible impact.

"Damn, an air slash? How does a wild Pidgeotto-?-never mind!" He faltered, as he jumped again, missing another of the strikes from the angry avian.

"Poliwag, bubble." He commanded.

The tadpole hurled a jet of compressed bubbles towards the avian, hitting it straight in the abdomen, making it screech in pain, as it glared at the tadpole. Beating its wings tightly, it summoned a miniature gale and sent it towards the tadpole.

"Poliwag, endure it and then use water gun. Bagon, use ember."

The mix of ember and water had an adverse impact on the avian which got blown off, but not enough to beat it. Screeching angrily, its eyes glowed again, as multiple copies of itself formed all around it, all of them glaring towards the trainer and his unfortunate pokémon who had made the mistake of injuring it.

"A wild Pidgeotto that knows double-team? Why am I even surprised?"

Another enraged screech came in his direction, as the several illusions of the avian shot towards the tadpole and the baby dragon beside it.

"Bagon, hold Poliwag and jump." Ash commanded. It was rather unconventional, but the baby dragon's body was built powerfully enough to hold up the tadpole and jump in the air, before landing on the ground a few feet away.

The avian screeched in frustration, as the double-team attack failed. With extreme prejudice, it cancelled the existing illusions and shot head-first towards the baby dragon.

A tackle attack? "Bagon," Ash commanded, "endure it."

BANG!

"Uhm…. A little softly?"

* * *

"On second thought, I should've just walked back to Viridian Pokémon Center." Ash murmured to himself, slightly confused over his choices. "I'm not sure if hitting Bagon, head-first, has left Pidgeotto's brains intact."

It had been a remarkably dull affair after that kamikaze attack by the angry avian on Bagon. After all, there is only so much a solid can withstand before giving out. Just ask any of the rocks beneath the Pallet town cliff, they'll know.

Sucking the rather… disoriented (probably the biggest understatement of the century) avian into the empty pokeball without any resistance, Ash had recalled his pokémon and continued walking down the forest path. There had been the slight humming of Beedrill now and then, along with several Rattata, dozens of Catterpie and a rare Nidoran throughout the journey, but overall, it had been a rather dull affair.

Bagon, Poliwag, Pidgeotto. A dragon, a water-type and now a flying-type. Not a bad progress considering it's been just three days.

He quietly wondered whether the team would be good enough to defeat Brock when he got there. Poliwag was a water-type, which would have an advantage over rock-types, so that was something. Pidgeotto… should it work out between them, could be an ace too, considering its wide move set. Maybe if he could manage to teach it steel wing, it would be an asset against rock type. As for Bagon….

 _What if Bagon head-butts onto the rock type, and it breaks…? Will I get sent to prison for killing the rock type?_

He shuddered at the half-amusing, half-terrifying prospect. On second thought, he might have to look into the other moves learnable by his starter before making an attempt on the Pewter gym. At least, he would have the handicap, considering that this was his first badge.

 _That's something… I guess._

He glanced at his pokeballs.

 _Three of them are filled. I can keep more three. The hell? Just three? I'm not sure if I'd want to send my pokémon to the coral in the first place. I captured them, they should stay with me. What's with this ridiculous rule and-?_

Wait.

He pulled out his Pokedex, and spoke clearly. "Get me the rules for Pokémon roster for trainers, Dexter."

The machine blinked at the top for two seconds, before the oddly mechanical voice came out once again.

 **Pokémon trainers are allowed to keep a maximum of six pokémon with them at all times. Any more pokémon captured are automatically sent to the Pokémon coral they are registered with, upon acquiring their trainer's licence. A trainer can however, rotate his pokémon from the coral and back as he wishes from a transport system placed at Pokémon centers and gyms.**

There went his hope of cutting short his limits.

Dexter however, wasn't done yet.

 **The safety limit of six pokémon is done to make sure that newbie trainers have sufficient rations and resources for themselves and their pokémon. In addition, sending them to the coral is a way to make sure that the pokémon remain in their best health. Trainers who have gained the title of Elite can however, increment their roster to a maximum of twelve pokémon. The roster regulation is maintained in accordance to Silph Co. and the League. Ace trainers are allowed to maintain a roster of twenty pokémon, since the nature of their work demands it.**

"So… the only way of increasing the roster is to become an Elite trainer? Fat chance of becoming that in two weeks." Ash scowled in frustration, before shutting the pokedex off, as he continued to walk.

 **This Pidgeotto is female. Current move set: Tackle, sand attack, gust, air slash, double-team, pursuit and peck. Its ability is big pecks.**

 _Pursuit? How does a wild Pidgeotto know pursuit? Can Pidgeotto even learn pursuit?_

He remembered what he knew about those that were known as Egg moves. Did Pidgeotto had a dark type for a parent? Is that why it's… shiny? Ash wondered. He closed the pokedex and looked up at the avian in front of him. It had taken an hour but Nurse Joy had released all of his pokémon, declaring them to be of perfect health after the treatment.

Said avian was currently giving him a blank stare from its vantage point.

"Say… Pidgeotto, you know that I've defeated you using my pokémon and captured you. So that makes you my pokémon. So I was wondering if, you would like to train under me, and help me defeat my opponents."

Pidgeotto tilted its head, staring at Ash like he was a particularly interesting specimen. She might have been a wild one, but she knew what captured pokémon did. Besides, getting captured wasn't something Pidgeotto was averse to. On the contrary, she knew very well that challenging a trainer like that was a sure way of getting captured by one. She knew that her chances of getting stronger increased with being with a powerful trainer, and that was the reason behind all of it. So why was this buffoon asking her like she had a damned option to choose from?

Pidgeotto barked in confusion.

"What I mean is… I want to become the strongest trainer in the world, and along the way, make sure that you, as part of my team, become the most powerful Pidgeot there is, and will be,"—Pidgeotto perked up at that-"but I don't want to force it on you."

Pidgeotto slanted her head on the other side. Her trainer was a strange one- that much was sure. With that punk of a tadpole, and that annoyingly strong draconic baby of his, Pidgeotto was sure that her trainer would be nothing but entertaining.

She barked again, nodding her sizable head in agreement, much to her owner's satisfaction.

 _Okay, so that went well._ Ash sighed inwardly. "Do you… want to return back to the pokeball?"

The avian shook her head, before she threw up her wings on either side, before soaring up into the air, flying around her trainer.

 _"I guess, that works just as well._

* * *

 **AN: Chapter updated and reposted on November 11, 2018. Minor editing mistakes removed. Elisabeth Mably is now helping me with the beta-work for this chapter. If you like the story so far, please leave a review. Constructive suggestions are highly appreciated.**

 **Thank you.**


	2. A taste of legends

You would think that there must be something wrong with the world when young teens leave their home to live in the wild, going into dangerous environments, dealing with potential monsters in hope of capturing them, and all of this, in hope of becoming the winner of conferences held in specific regions all over the world. The truth is, there is actually a _proper_ reason behind it all, a reason which pushes teens from all over the world to choose becoming a pokémon trainer and battler as an occupation.

Money.

How? Pay attention.

In accordance to the regulations of the Indigo League ( one can't be bothered about the other Leagues considering that this is in fact, the Kanto region, which is as wide and diverse as any), there are specific rules made for pokémon battling. In order to promote the battling prowess of pokémon, and overall experience for the trainer himself, the league has set forth certain tribulations to be followed.

Case 1. A pokémon battle is usually fought over a monetary bet, the standard value of which is two hundred pokedollars per pokémon battle. In case it isn't clear, the defeated has to pay that amount to the winner. Of course, in an _official_ battle, both parties must _consent_ to follow the standard protocol and accept the duty to pay up if they suffered defeat. It goes without saying that there are rogues who use this regulation to force newbie trainers to battle, and loot money out of them, without anyone knowing any better.

Case 2: Pokémon battles might be fought over pokémon or a pokémon item, such as a metal coat, or evolutionary stone. Because such an event might require _change_ of ownership of pokémon, these battles _must_ always take place with permission of a league-entrusted official, which can be anyone from a gym leader, to a police officer or the Nurse Joys from Pokémon centers. The above is done to prevent pokémon theft from unsuspecting trainers.

Case 3: Two parties might be inclined to choose their own bet value, either in money or in item. This type of battling is usually unofficial, and not registered to the league. Under no conditions, can a _gym badge_ be used as a betting item. This is one of the newer regulations added to the League charter to prevent badge theft from unsuspecting trainers by malicious trainers or organizations.

In addition to that, the league has authorized free rations and medical supplies for visiting trainers, available at Pokémon centers. Such centers also provide accommodation (up to a maximum of three days, though more is available upon payment) to visiting trainers. In addition, defeating a gym leader also guarantees a particular sum of money for the trainer, a value that rises with the number of badges one wins. The maximum amount that can be won by defeating gym leaders within Kanto _cannot_ exceed thirty thousand pokedollars, which is usually the amount one attains after collecting eight badges.

Bottom line. Being a trainer is the way to go. The stronger you are, the more money you make. And once you are deemed well enough, the league might choose to appoint you as an apprenticing Ace trainer, with good pay and benefits.

That was how fourteen-year-old Ash Ketchum found himself staring at the teen hell-bent on cosplaying a samurai. He even had the entire sword thing done right.

"So… you want to judge my ability as a trainer by attacking me with a….stick?"

"It's not a stick. It's a sword. I'm a Samurai, and that is my sword. Why do people have so much trouble grasping such a simple concept?" Said samurai wept.

It must be noticed that said sword was currently within the claws of a particularly annoyed avian, who was leering down at the samurai for trying to attack her trainer without due reason.

"Wouldn't it be more practical to have a pokémon battle where you don't try to haul that sword into my stomach, and Pidgeotto doesn't gnaw your eyes out?" Ash retorted.

The samurai looked up at his sword, before looking away to avoid the angry glare of said avian.

"I cannot haul my sword if I don't have it in the first place."

"… Right." Ash returned. "Pidgeotto, please return that sword back."

The wooden sword fell onto the samurai's head with a thud.

"Oww…."

"…. I meant to return it to the ground, but I guess that works too." Ash replied, throwing an apologetic look at his fallen opponent.

Now that the sword and the samurai were together and one, it was time for a pokémon battle ( _and some income)_ , Ash thought to himself, "What do you say about a two-on-two?"

"My honour as a samurai wouldn't allow me any less."

 _Right._ "Very well, I choose Pidgeotto."

"Go… metapod."

With a bright flash of light, the greyish hardened cocoon, which was the evolved form of catterpie, stood on the grassy floor, warily staring at the predatory avian in front of him.

Let it never be said that Ash Ketchum was a sadist. That however, didn't stop him from pointing out the obvious at the most random of times. 'Umm…. You do know that Pidgeotto feed on bugs like metapod, right?"

A single thing resonated between the minds of the metapod and its trainer. _Crap._

"Pidgo!" The prideful avian let out its predatory war-cry, as it pounced down towards the ground, where the metapod was standing (or sitting? It's difficult to tell with them anyway), its beak open to catch, swallow and digest the bug in one go.

Metapod however, had other things in mind.

"Metapod, harden."

That was when something interesting happened.

Normally, the move _Harden (_ the only thing those bugs can do anyway) enables a metapod to increase its exoskeleton density temporarily, as a defensive measure against predators. Then again, considering that most wild metapod were usually eaten up by the likes of Pidgey and Spearow, it wasn't that… productive. So, it went ahead and did the next best thing.

The predatory avian had just reached the grass, only to find metapod turn slightly incorporeal before getting sucked into its pokeball.

 _The hell?_ Exclaimed both trainer and his avian, or rather, an angry screech as far as the avian was concerned.

"I suppose I lost the round." Samurai wept.

"Pidgo! Pidgo!" the avian wept, at the loss of a prey.

 _At least I got something out of it._ The avian's trainer grinned.

The samurai in question seemed to have gained back some of his shattered confidence. "This time," he stood up, expanding his pokeball, "I am going to win. Go, Pinsir!"

 **Pinsir, the stag beetle pokémon. Pinsir has a pair of massive horns. Protruding from the surface of these horns are thorns. These thorns are driven deeply into the foe's body when the pincer closes, making it tough for the foe to escape.**

"Okay, this guy looks tough." Ash commented. "Say what, Pidgeotto? Want to take this one down as well?"

The avian in question couldn't be bothered with a reply.

 _Shows how much she respects me._ Ash scowled inwardly. "Very well, go... bagon."

"Bae!" stood the baby dragon, ready to take down its foe. Said foe was busy trying to intimidate its opponent by clicking its large horns menacingly.

"Bae?" Asked Bagon, turning to Ash, which Ash translated to… _'You had to bring me out for this one?"_

Ash threw him an apologetic look. "Come on, Bagon. You cannot grow stronger if you cannot defeat powerful opponents, and that is just a bug."

 _Now he's done it._ Pidgeotto thought to herself, looking down at the baby dragon who had instantly shed off fear for pride at his trainer's words.

 _Boys and their pride._ She thought to herself.

"All right, Pinsir, start with vice grip." Samurai yelled.

"Jump, and use Zen Head-butt."

Jumping up, and escaping the attempt to strangle him, Bagon developed a momentum and shot towards the large bug.

"Focus energy, and then go for brick break."

The strategy was good, but what Samurai didn't count for was the power behind the head-butt, one that sent Pinsir flying.

"Now, use ember at full power."

"Bae-gon!"

That ended the battle.

* * *

"I cannot believe that the guy's been there for months, waiting to fight trainers coming from Pallet town." Ash chuckled. "Do you think he might have met Gary then?"

"Bae."

"My guess is as good as yours."

"Bae."

"I can only hope that we are both speaking of the same thing."

"Bae?"

"Uh…. Never mind."

The trainer and his dragon were standing in the outskirts of Pewter city, or as it was better known, _the city of the rock._ Said rock referred to an ancient mountain known as Mount Moon, which was apparently home to all kinds of rare pokémon, including and especially the rare Clefairy, which had been classified as part of the newly coined _Fairy-type._ Needless to say, the region in and around Mount Moon had been a huge attraction for both researchers and pokémon trainers, the former wanting to investigate the rumours of the _legendary moonstone_ which was apparently located somewhere in the inner depths of the mountain. The trainers usually were interested in catching pokémon that inhabited the mountain and its surroundings.

The rumours about Clefairy and the mythical moonstone had generated a lot of negative attraction as well. Team Rocket, a nefarious agency who believed in capturing pokémon for profit, had demonstrated an active interest in the area. That was why the Indigo League had put in several contingency plans in motion should any kind of malicious infiltration attack occur anywhere within the specific region.

The rumours about the previous gym leader abandoning town, leaving his elder son to grasp the security and responsibilities of gym leader of Pewter city didn't help matters either. It was almost an irony at how Pewter gym, once regarded as the strongest gyms in Kanto, now had the reputation to be one of the weakest.

That, precisely was the reason why newbie trainers, like Ash himself, attempted to score a badge from here instead of other cities. That, and the chance, to catch a rare pokémon from Mount Moon.

It took them a while to reach the Pewter Pokémon center, where Nurse Joy (it was a definite mystery about the sheer number of Nurse Joys, what with all of them looking the same) had taken care of his pokémon, and allowed him to refurnish some of his rations as well. While one could simply buy it from the shops, no trainer worth his salt would want to waste money over _food_ when there were things like TM's to purchase.

"So you're here to challenge Brock, eh?" The person questioning him was a random stranger, one with pointy eyes and a huge beard covering half of his face, sitting in the lobby a few steps away from Ash, as he waited for the return of his pokémon to him.

"Uh, yeah I am." Ash replied uncertainly. "And who are you?"

"Just some random observer." The man replied snootily. "So what's the plan? Water and grass-type?"

"Uhm… I have a water-type, though I am hoping to use some of my other pokémon as well."

"Interesting. Someone with guts." The man returned. "Usually, there are all sorts of newbies running around this place, crying after getting their pokémon smashed by Brock's Onix."

"On—nix?" Ash stuttered. "Brock's got an Onix?"

"Yes, though it's relatively young. And a bunch of other rock types as well. He used them against the newbies without a badge."

Which meant that Ash would be one to face the Onix as well.

 _Damn._

Onix, were in general, rock-snakes. Mammoth in size, and had a huge amount of power to pack their punches with. A fully grown Onix would normally reach around eight metres in length at least, and were quite immune to general water-types in comparison, no thanks to their partial steel-typing which took dominance when they evolved into a Steelix, which had a steel-typing with draconic attributes. Say what you will about him, but Ash always did his homework when it came to pokémon.

 _I guess, Poliwag is my best bet then._

"You could always visit Mount Moon, first." The obsessively-helpful stranger offered. "There are many wild grass pokémon out there, ones that can get you an advantage over rock types. Alternatively, you could travel to the river, and try catching another water-type or two."

Both options were good. Both options were sensible.

Both options were practically useless for Ash.

"Sorry…" the teen spoke in a somewhat suppressed tone. "I'm already late, and I need to pick up slack. I cannot afford to travel all the way to Mount Moon and back, try defeating Brock, and then travel past Mount Moon all the way all over again."

"Interesting." The stranger observed.

The man's reply went unheard as a chime rung in the lobby, as a dull, mechanical voice spoke up. "Ash Ketchum, please come to the front desk to collect your pokémon."

"I suppose I'll just try with what I have." Ash spoke to the man, before turning away. "Thanks for the suggestion, though."

The stranger just shrugged, before taking out a cigar, and lighting it. "Try your best, kid."

* * *

At first sight, the Pewter gym seemed like a symbolic representation of everything that Pewter city stood for. Built out of a single monolith, the entire gym was shaped according to the designs of ancient rock temples, with tall pillars on the courtyard, and a wide, stone set of stairs that led to the inner confines of the rocky edifice. On top of the pillars, were beautiful sculptures of rock-type pokémon, carved out of monoliths themselves, each being a representation to the world of rock-types. From his vantage point, Ash was able to recognize a golem, an Onix, and a rhydon amongst the others.

 _And this is supposed to be the weakest gym all around._ Ash swallowed.

As he reached the precipice of the stairs, Ash found himself facing the giant rock doors that were supposedly the entrance to the gym inside. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the tiny switch on the left.

"Please state your name and purpose." A mechanical voice spoke out.

Taking a deep breath, he replied. "Ash Ketchum, here to battle the gym leader."

With a hiss, the rock doors slid away on either end, revealing the open pathway to walk in. Cautiously, Ash took the first step, followed by another, until he was standing right in the inner confines of the gym.

The insides, much to his amazement, were completely opposite to the outer décor. Apart from the rocky terrain on the ground built specifically for the gym battles, the rest of the gym was created with highly tempered steel, augmented with several technological gadgets Ash had never seen. A door to the right opened on its own, as a person, who seemed to be in his early twenties, walked in. His features were slightly chiselled, especially his eyes which almost looked like slits from afar.

"Ash Ketchum, I presume?"

Ash nodded.

"I am Brock Harrison. The Pewter city Gym leader. How many badges do you have?"

"Uh… none. I just started my journey this week."

Brock raised an eyebrow. "A handicap then. Very well, how many pokémon do you have?"

"... Three."

"That's good. That means you've been quite active over this week. Very well," the young man had a rather orotund voice. "Here are the rules. This will be a two on three match. You may choose to substitute one pokémon for another. You may not use more than three pokémon in this battle. You may choose to forfeit a battle whenever you want." He paused. "Any questions?"

Ash went through all that in his mind once again. "No." He shook his head.

"Whenever you are ready then."

Ash gave him an uneasy smile, as he flipped his cap on the other side. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Brock smiled. "Confidence. I like it." He calmly plucked a single pokeball from his belt, and threw it normally into the field. "Geodude, time for battle."

The pokémon in question looked like a single chuck of rock with eyes and a mouth, with two rocky arm-like appendages protruding out of its head on either side. The end points of the appendages were modified into gigantic fists, each almost the size of the head itself.

 **Geodude, the rock pokémon. It uses its arms to steadily climb steep mountain paths. It swings its fists around if angered.**

"Geodude, huh…" Ash muttered. "You are pretty hard then. Try someone like this then." He plucked a pokeball from his belt and threw it onto the field. "Go, Bagon."

Pokeball technology was built in such fashion, that irrespective of its manner of throw, once the action of capturing or releasing was done, the pokeball was return back to the owner's hand. And just like that, Ash found his pokeball zooming up in the air before he caught it in his hand.

"A bagon, eh?" Brock looked impressed. "Haven't seen one of those for a long time." He looked up curiously at Ash. "Where did you find him?"

"He's my starter." Ash replied, a little glad for once that someone realized what his starter was.

"Interesting." Brock smiled. "Now Geodude, use Hammer Arm."

"Dodge it, bagon." Ash yelled. "Now use ember."

The tiny fireballs sped past Geodude, hitting straight on its appendages, but without much effect. "Now use zen head-butt."

"Hold it, Geodude." Brock warned, knowing very well how strong Bagon's head-butt was known to be. "Now throw it."

 _Damn, this is difficult._ "All right, bagon. Use the rocks on the ground as support, and use rage."

"Rock throw."

 _Yes, come closer._

"Bagon, get ready. Any moment now." _Please let it work. Please let it work._

"Geodude, end this." Brock commanded.

Said rock-type had come inches close to bagon.

"Jump up." Ash yelled.

"What?" Brock looked surprised, at the ease with which the baby dragon switched its momentum. Geodude had crashed its appendage into the rocky terrain.

"Now use zen head-butt. Full power."

"Bae-gon!" The baby dragon dived down at full speed, smashing against the rock-type, which instantly fainted then and there.

"Geo-dude!" came the broken, disoriented voice of the defeated rock type.

Brock's lips thinned for a moment, before it gave birth to a smile. "That… was well done, Ash. I must say I underestimated you."

Ash grinned. Tuning to Bagon, he replied, "We did it, Bagon."

"Gon!" the dragon grunted.

"Very well." The gym leader observed, returning his disoriented pokémon back to rest inside his pokeball. "Let's see what you can do against something this size." He threw the other pokeball into the field. "Annihilate them, _Onix."_

The byzantine monolithic serpent roared, power bursting out of its voice. It cast an intimidating look upon the tiny dragon, who looked slightly worse for wear, and had slowly stepped back, out of fear of the gigantic serpent.

"Return, bagon." Ash returned him, before throwing in another. "I choose you, Poliwag."

"A water type." Brock observed. "You came prepared, I see."

"Something like that." Ash grinned. "Poliwag, use water-gun on Onix."

Ignoring the slightly intimidated feeling, the blue tadpole opened its mouth to throw in a powerful jet of water towards the rock serpent, whose discomfort seemed to increment with time.

"Onix, rock throw." Brock ordered, not wanting to see the water gun weaken his Onix further.

"Poliwag, return." Ash returned him, much to Brock's surprise. "Pidgeotto, I choose you."

"Your instincts are top notch, I'll give you that, Ash." Brock spoke out. "However, what good will a flying type do against my Onix?"

Ash smirked. "Pidgeotto, use Double team."

Instantly, the atmosphere above them was filled with dozens of illusions of said avian, none of them any different from the other.

"Now, use peck on Onix's head, all at once."

The dozens of illusionary avians shot down towards the monolithic serpent, hitting straight on the head with significant force, as the serpentine behemoth roared in pain.

"Now use air slash."

"Enough, Onix. Use Rock Tomb." Brock yelled.

"Pidgeotto, return."

"Are you going to keep playing this game of hide and seek, Ash?" Brock asked, both irritated and interested at what the boy was going to do next.

"I choose you, Poliwag. Use water gun."

Another jet of water slammed into the rock monster at full force, making Onix groan in discomfort.

"Rock tomb." Brock tried.

"Not so easy. Jump and use water gun again."

"Onix, try to capture the poliwag."

The Onix groaned, as it reached for the tadpole.

"Now, climb onto Onix and use bubble."

"Onix, throw the Poliwag away." Brock ordered, as Onix used its mighty tail to banish the tadpole off its body.

"Poliwag, return." Ash returned the nearly disoriented pokémon, and threw another. "Bagon, your turn. Use zen head-butt on its head."

It was only too easy.

"Onix." Brock yelled in surprise, as the great snake finally gave way, falling down onto the floor, having been knocked out by the powerful attack.

"Return." The gym leader replied at last. "Well done Ash. That, was one of the best battles I've ever fought since becoming gym leader."

"… Really?" Ash gushed in surprise. Personally, he was feeling grateful that his attack scheme had worked without fail.

"Really." Brock agreed without hesitation, as he crossed the rocky terrain, walking up to Ash. "You'll become a great pokémon trainer, if you keep this up, and this," he held out a shiny greyish, octagonal badge, "is the boulder badge, the symbol of your victory over the Pewter city gym."

"Uh… thanks. This means a lot to me." Ash returned gleefully, holding the badge in his fingers.

"You should get yourself a badge holder, for safekeeping. Just in case they got lost." Brock advised. It was a slightly redundant thing to do, considering that the newer regulations of the League made it a necessary point for gym leaders to log in the names of trainers who had gotten a badge from them, and upload the data to the league database. This automatically solved issues arising out of badge theft or simply losing them while travelling. Also, it prevented the spread and sale of fake badges, since the league kept proper note of the number of badges attained by trainers and their respective details.

"I will." Ash replied, without missing a beat.

"You are a sharp trainer, Ash. I'm sure if you keep it up, your pokémon will become powerful enough to win the league conference for you." Brock complimented him. "Also… it is my wish that you… take this."

He took Ash's hand and put in a little red and black sphere.

 _A pokeball?_

"Before I became a full-time gym leader, I used to be a pokémon breeder." Brock replied, a slight sadness visible in his tone. "This… is one of the pokémon that I helped heal, but unfortunately, I do not have the time required to train it and push it to its best."

"Oh—kay." Ash wasn't sure what to say.

"So I want you to keep it, and train it. Make sure it becomes the strongest of its species someday."

A grin slowly spread on Ash's face. "Sure thing, Brock. I will."

"You don't even know what the pokémon is yet." Brock deadpanned.

"ehehehe…" the teen laughed in embarrassment, before clicking the release button, as the familiar jet of light, shot out, condensing into a-

 _Rhyhorn?_

 **Rhyhorn. The spikes pokémon. Its body is clad in a thick hide, and its tackles topple buildings. Unfortunately, it is not smart.**

 _Right…_

 **This rhyhorn is male. Current Move set: Horn attack, Smack down, bulldoze, and rock blast. Its ability is rock head.**

Rhyhorn were, in general, pretty _normal_ pokémon, albeit one with high offensive capabilities. Their major negative attribute was their lack of intelligence, and were not an option for a wit-based battle. However, their evolutions Rhydon, and its final form Rhyperiors were absolute monsters in all sense of the term. In fact, a rhyperior was easily able to give a Charizard a hard time, considering that their hide was literally immune to even magma. On the other hand, the amount of hard work required to evolve a rhyhorn into one of those was staggering, though justified, since the final evolution was literally the epitome of _badassery._

"So what do you think Ash?" Brock asked, shaking him out of his reveries. "Will you take charge of this rhyhorn?"

"I…. Won't it cause problems, Brock? I mean, he's your pokémon, after all."

Brock smiled. "He's not. I just healed him, and he never really left. As I am sure you know, rhyhorn aren't really the symbol of intelligence. I'm sure his… sense of loyalty will attach itself to you should you treat him well."

Ash gripped the ball tightly, as he beamed. "I promise I will, Brock."

"Make sure you do." Brock warned. "I'll be keeping a check every now and then. I don't want to hear that rhyhorn was traded with some other pokémon a month from now."

Ash swallowed. "Sure thing."

* * *

 _Two more pokémon…_ Ash thought to himself. _Two more pokémon and I'll have to start sending them to Professor Oak's coral for safekeeping._

It had been over two days since he had left the Pewter city for Mount Moon. And a rather eventful journey that had been.

After walking out of the gym, he had immediately raced off to the pokémon center to get his pokémon healed and back in form. The walk to Mount Moon was rather long, and he didn't really have any form of locomotion as of yet. Gary, he knew for a fact, moved around in a convertible which was way too costly for someone like Delia Ketchum to afford for her son. Thus, there was no option save walking his way to his next destination.

He had met a total of six trainers on the way over the last two days, and if he were honest with himself, none of them were _too difficult._ Yes, he had indeed lost a battle to a certain Roger and his primeape, but he had also won the other five, making himself a hefty amount of three thousand pokedollars already. That, along with the one thousand dollars Brock had paid him as stipend from the league, had made his pockets richer by a significant amount, and he knew _exactly_ what to do with them.

TM's.

Acronym for Technical Machines, these… gadgets were dead useful for teaching moves to pokémon in a rather swift and risk-free way. The only disadvantage was that TM's were highly expensive, especially if one were to consider buying the _reusable ones._ However, the reusable ones offered the option of teaching it to multiple pokémon with time, and hence, made the better deal.

He considered his pokémon. Bagon had improved greatly in speed and technique, his _ember_ now more effective, his jaws strengthening, which meant a better _bite,_ and was slowly on his way to master _dragon claw._ Once he was able to accomplish that, Ash would begin to try teach him _dragon breath._ Once again, he mentally thanked Professor Oak for the pokedex, which was able to acquire several videos of Bagon species demonstrating _dragon breath_. It would be good to have another long-range technique aside from _ember._

Poliwag had already mastered _bubble beam_ and _rain dance_ over the last two days. With his rather affinity to performing a perfect _water gun_ move, Ash was seriously contemplating teaching him another powerful offensive move, the _hydro pump._ Mastering _hydro pump_ would bring Poliwag one step closer to evolution, which, considering his increasing body mass over the past few days, was already close to home.

Pidgeotto…. Well, the one word used for the shiny avian was _Natural._ That bird was simply… a natural at learning. Then again, considering it had managed to learn complicated move sets like _air slash_ and _double team,_ it wasn't all unexpected. His female avian had mastered _sand attack,_ and was on her way to master _whirl wind._ He decided to try getting her learn _twister_ if possible. Her slightly lower build had raised questions in Ash's mind, but he was certain that his pokémon would be able to evolve into a large and powerful Pidgeot with time.

The last was rhyhorn. In a whim, Ash had tried to sit on rhyhorn's back, hold him tight, and order the rhinoceros to charge ahead, hoping that doing so would save some time. He had learnt it the hard way that contrary to other terrestrial pokémon like Arcanine, rhyhorn could _only_ run straight, irrespective of any and all boulders and obstacles that _might be unfortunate enough_ to be on its way.

The slight throbbing on his back was incentive enough for Ash Ketchum to never try such a thing, ever again.

He had walked past the outskirts of the proper city, leading to the thick forestland that surrounded Mount Moon. He had been walking through the forest for almost an hour now, and had already passed several stations of League personnel keeping track of people moving in and out.

"For the last time, this is my pokedex, and I am Ash Ketchum." He snapped in irritation at a league personnel who had bothered with his identification for the nth time since entering the forest region.

"Heh… don't get snarky, kid." Said personnel, an elder man around thirty, chuckled at his antics. "Anyway, this is the last check point. You 'll need to clear your way past two other checkpoints if you get out from the other end though."

"Gee thanks." Ash retorted, snatching his pokedex back and walking off.

"Kids these days!" The man sighed. "You should be entering the cave on the next right, kid. And remember, you might meet a cranky old man insides. Don't mind him." The man paused. "On second thought, don't tell him I told you that, eh?"

"Sure." Ash drawled. "Now can I go?"

The man just gave him a hand gesture to pass, as he stomped his way out.

* * *

Mount Moon was, in simple terms, a complete maze of interconnected routes that intersected each other, spanning over an area of several miles at least. There were routes specifically carved out for travellers who wanted to reach the other side of the mountain without any hassle, and as was obvious, most of the cave-dwelling pokémon tended to stay away from these routes, except the rare nidoran, diglet or sandshrew who came up from the ground from time to time. Apart from the obvious and marked-out routes, there were several other caverns that led to the inner confines of the humongous mountain, one that were less mapped out, and had more probability of having nocturnal and cave-dwelling pokémon inside them. Also, the way to the mythical moonstone, must also lie somewhere within these unmapped routes as well.

Ash had returned all of his pokémon, except rhyhorn, who would be immensely helpful to get past boulders and boundaries in the caverns, and with the help of his torch, he had made a reasonable amount of progress into the innards of the monolith. It had been several hours and yet, apart from the rare sandshrew or its evolved form, sandslash, he hadn't managed to find something that attracted his eye.

There had been a couple of nidoran as well, but he had ignored them and walked ahead.

"Rhyhorn, use horn attack over here." Ash commanded, pointing towards a rather large fragment of the wall that felt slightly… hollow, compared to the others. True to its nature, rhyhorn smashed through the stone wall, leaving any empty opening for Ash to follow through behind it.

It was dark. It was… strange. And it was _cold._

Wait. Rephrase that bit. It was _biting, ice cold,_ and Ash was sure that he had felt powerful gusts of wind carrying that _unnatural coldness_ blowing from somewhere, into this dark cavern.

 _How nice it would have been to have a charmander right now. The tail flame would have done wonders._

Ash suppressed the thought, as he held the torch up, its thin beam of light doing a rather paltry job at lighting up the environment. As far as he could see, there were walls all around, with slight wisps of biting cold winds seeping through the air spaces in them.

"Alright, rhyhorn. There's no point waiting in here. Tackle straight ahead towards that wall." He pointed the direction with his torch. "Now."

Never question a rhyhorn about its diligence.

The wall shook, the shock waves from the powerful tackle reverberating through the entire innards of the cavern, as portions of the wall began to fragment and fall, both on Ash's side and the other.

 _Crap._ He decided. "Rhyhorn come back."

Apparently, he shouldn't have doubted the rumours about rhyhorn's lack of intelligence. Said beast was stuck his horn into the wall, and as was his nature, rhyhorn had decided that the only way was _forward,_ thus becoming an excellent candidate for the falling stones to land on.

"Rhyhorn!" Ash screamed in horror.

"Use Psychic." Came an unfamiliar voice, and suddenly, the falling boulders paused, _stopping in mid-air,_ just like that. "Use Flash." The male voice continued.

The entire cavern lit up like a living room, as an enormous structure a few steps away from Ash, began to glow brightly, revealing the contents of the cavern for Ash's eyes to see.

"Whoa!" Ash whispered in awe.

Levitating in front of him, was a giant rock-type pokémon, with a large oval-shaped head, and four appendages on four sides. There was a bright X in front of its head, with eyes on either side of the X. In other words, it was exactly what the _Badass_ form of Geodude was supposed to look like.

 **Metagross.** Dexter spoke up in its usual tone. **The Iron leg pokémon. Metagross is the final evolution form of Beldum, and has four brains in total. Combined, the four brains can breeze through difficult calculations faster than a supercomputer. This pokémon can float in the air by tucking in its four legs.**

And standing next to the giant pokémon was a man who looked like he was in his early fifties. "Call your rhyhorn back, lad."

Ash did the same without comment, his eye never leaving the spectacular form of the pokémon in front of him. With rhyhorn's pokeball back to his belt, he opened up Dexter and scanned the specimen in front of him.

 **Metagross has a steel/psychic typing. Judging from its current move set, it is at least fifty years old.**

"A pokedex." The older man recognized. "One of Oak's, eh?"

"… Yes." Ash replied.

"What's ya name, lad?"

"I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum." He replied. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off the giant steel/psychic type in front of it, and _knew_ that the Metagross in question was _judging_ him.

"Nice to meet ya, Ash. I'm Derrick." The man introduced himself. "And I can see ya rather… enticed with my Metagross."

"It's… It's an amazing pokémon…" Ash spoke, more to himself than to the man, before quickly realizing the situation. "-sir."

"Just Derrick is fine." The man waved off, before turning to Metagross. "What do ya think?"

The _beast-_ It couldn't be anything but that-made an odd groaning noise, as its jet black, compound eyes stared into Ash, as if looking into his very soul. After another pause, the beast groaned.

"Ah… so that's how it is." The old man chuckled. Turning to Ash, he asked, "What are ya doing in these caverns, lad?"

"I… I was searching for awesome and cool pokémon." Ash returned, as he gained some semblance of control over his emotions. "Wait…" he realized suddenly, "you are… are with the league, right?"

"Huh?" The man scrunched his face. "Why would ya say that?"

"The officers told me that should I find someone old and…." He quickly backpedalled, "-I mean… some old gentleman inside, then I shouldn't mind and go ahead without disturbing him."

"Is that so?" The man laughed again.

Ash observed the man in question. Despite his age, the man gave away an aura of vitality, almost like he was far, far younger. Besides, his apparel was rather simple, and not one of those uniforms the league personnel wore at all times. Though… those _uniforms_ looked _cool though…_

 _Especially with a cape. Like Lance._

"So lad… tell you what, today might just be ya lucky day. Come with me and I'll show ya a _cool and awesome_ pokémon."

"…."

The man progressed deeper into the other side of the cavern, one through which Metagross had just paved a passage, before he realized that his companion was still standing back there. "Ya comin'?"

"….. Yeah, sure."

* * *

Mount Moon held within its confines, some terrible secrets. And these terrible truths weren't necessarily ordained to be kept secret by Clefairy alone, for as much as these fairy types were able to use their sight to view the waves of time, space and destiny, and spot patterns in the complex waves that Dialga and Palkia have been generating for eons, they were _only fairies,_ and hence, were not _worthy_ enough to see the complete picture. Instead, they retained a fragment of the truth, but the truth nevertheless, and protected it with their lives. Just like the psychics in the south-end of the mountain, and the mysterious dark energies trapped in the east, they all retained their own secrets, each no less tantamount than the other, and thus, waited in silence and unwelcome desperation, for the fateful day when _he-who-waits-in-darkness_ would finally unveil the harsh, but no less complete, calamitous, catastrophic truth.

The _electric tamer's ascent_ had not come to pass, and hence, the Clefairy stayed away.

* * *

"So Ash, what do ya think?"

Ash Ketchum was blank, and with due reason. Right in front of him, and on either side, was a giant, _steel_ hive. He could only see, his eyes brightly lit with awe as he saw scores of Beldum and metang float around, with their psychic typing allowing them to levitate in the air akin to any self-respecting avian.

"This is… this is real?" He asked in astonishment.

"As real as ya and me, lad." The man, Derrick spoke softly.

"All this… this…"

"My Metagross was originally a metang just like anyone from here, and let me tell ya something lad. Metagross have a _hive mind._ They are able to communicate at extreme speeds over hundreds of miles away, without batting an eye."

"So…"

"I occasionally come up here, to check things up, and shake things up a bit." He gave Ash a smile. "—and get some of these old chums to go out and get themselves a trainer."

Ash's eyes lit up.

"My Metagross thinks that ya have a good potential to train one of these chums, lad. What do ya say?"

"I… I…"

"Of course, ya have to battle one of them first, lad. Metang only obey those in power. If ya can't subdue them in power, they'll never follow ya."

"Oh…"

"So which of ya chums would like to test this one's mettle?" Derick asked the colony in general, ignoring the shocked look the teen was giving him.

After what seemed to be a cacophony of mechanical groans, a single metang floated out. Unlike Metagross, metang were much smaller, and had two appendages, and looked like the _steel/psychic_ version of Geodude after a fashion. That was at least, a development from Beldum, which only looked like the head was encrusted on top of a single appendage, giving it a rocket like structure.

 **Metang. The iron claw pokémon.** Ash checked Dexter. **When two Beldum fuse together, metang is formed. The brains of the Beldum are joined by a magnetic nervous system. By linking its brains magnetically, this pokémon generates strong psychokinetic power.**

 _Right. I'm so catching this one._ Ash decided. "Time to shine, my friend. Bagon, I choose you."

The light that was emitted out of the pokeball condensed to form the shape of the baby dragon. "Bae-gon!" The baby dragon roared.

 _A bagon eh?_ Derrick noted. _Interesting. Did you know that?_

Metagross didn't bother to either accept or deny the accusation, but merely stared at the human child in front of him.

 _He couldn't have gotten a bagon here in the wild, and looks fairly new to being a trainer. Why would someone like Oak give a pseudo-legendary to a kid as a starter? It doesn't even begin to make sense._

He cast another glance at the metang who was hovering in front of the baby dragon, ready to test its mettle.

 _And now metang. Another pseudo-legendary species. Is it merely… a coincidence?_

Metagross stayed silent.

 _Metagross? Am I not worthy enough to know?_

The behemoth turned towards its trainer, observing him for a moment.

And then Metagross revealed the answer.

* * *

Ash Ketchum was at his wit's end.

The metang he was trying to capture was rather powerful, at least as far as psychokinetic powers were concerned. It was able to easily neutralize the momentum from Bagon's attacks, and then throw the dragon towards the wall. It was only Bagon's determination that made it try again and again in futility.

 _This isn't working._

With the large distances between the two walls, the metang was having a rather fun time throwing the dragon from one wall to another, only for the resilient dragon to keep trying to head butt it in the air. If only Bagon could….

 _Hang on._

"Bagon, use your agility to jump from one wall to the other, and keep doing that." Ash commanded, and was glad to see bagon following his lead. With how strong Bagon's head was, metang was having a rather rough time trying to levitate in the air with how the baby dragon was jumping from one wall to another all around him. As seconds passed, it seemed like Bagon's speed was increasing.

 **Sheer force. Bagon's hidden ability.** Dexter cried. **Sheer force increases the agility and power behind Bagon's attacks.**

"Now use dragon claw." Ash yelled, as the dragon twisted in mid-air, before sending powerful slashes of draconic energy, tearing through the air towards metang.

Said metang dodged one of the slashes but was slightly hit by the other. Enraged, it launched a psychic beam at bagon.

"Use ember."

Bagon growled in anger, and revealed a glimpse of the dormant draconic strength that would unlock in due time to give rise to the pseudo-legendary he was born to become. Instead of the little balls of fire that Ash had come to expect, came out a burst of pure draconic energy, compressed into spherical shape.

Bagon gave it an outlet. Metang.

 _Dragon Pulse._ Ash realized. _Bagon's egg move. The sheer force ability must have unlocked it._

The sheer draconic power pulsing inside the sphere smashed into the metang, sending it off the realms of its consciousness, as metang lost its psychokinetic balance, falling to the rocky floor. However, Ash was ready. Before the steel-type had even reached the ground, an empty pokeball hit it, sucking it into itself.

One second.

Two seconds.

"Ding."

* * *

"I can't believe that I actually caught a pokémon that evolves into Metagross." Ash gushed, overjoyed. "All thanks to you, bagon."

"Bae-gon!" Said dragon cheered in his victory.

"And you unlocked dragon pulse as well." Ash reminded. "Just wait and watch. We'll defeat every single trainer out there."

"Gon!"

"I am glad ya'r happy, Ash." Derrick commented from behind.

Ash faltered midway. "And thanks to you too, Mr. Derrick. Without you, I'd never have found the metang colony."

"That's right." Derrick agreed with hesitation. "Without someone on the inside, it is nigh impossible to find those chums."

"Thanks again, Mr. Derrick."

Derrick chuckled. "Say Ash, would ya help me in a little venture of mine?"

"Anything, Mr. Derrick." Came the rushed answer.

The old man laughed at his naïveté. "Well, ya see… I've been trying to find the legendary moonstone, but there's…. a lot of interference, causing trouble for my Metagross."

Inwardly, Ash wondered what kind of energy could have posed an issue for someone as strong as the psychic type floating behind him. It was not his first time with psychics, considering that he literally lived with one, albeit one with whom he had a sort of love/hate relationship. That, and Professor Oak's Alakazam, whose raw power was blinding, literally so. And yet, in front of this steel behemoth that casually floated in front of him, they _paled. Literally._ And despite his awe with the pokémon, and _Derrick's_ affable nature, Ash wasn't stupid enough to consider the man to be anyone _ordinary_ by any means.

 _A fifty year old metagross that could beat Professor Oak's Alakazam hands down in pure power._

It was a humbling thought. Briefly, he cast a glance at his pokeball, the one that contained a metang, one that would in turn, evolve into a Metagross, just like the specimen in front of him.

 _Would my metagross ever be as powerful as him?_

 _ **Power is a state of mind, human hatchling.**_

The powerful voice that resonated inside his mind could only belong to one entity. He gazed in awe at the behemoth, unsure if it was his mind playing tricks on him or not. Intentionally or not, the metagross didn't even cast a glance at him.

"So tell me Ash, would ya help me?"

"Uh…. Sure, what do you need?" Ash offered.

A ghost of a smile formed on the man's lips. "What other pokémon do ya have?"

"A Pidgeotto, a poliwag, and my rhyhorn." Ash answered.

"Hmmm…" Derrick looked at him thoughtfully. "Ya see, as I said, there are some energies around this place, that are interfering with my metagross's psychic powers. I'd be grateful if you could use ya baby dragon's abilities to get us to a' destination."

"Bagon? How would he-?"

"This place is filled with ambient draconic energy, lad. That was what pushed ya'r bagon to be able to use sheer force, and unlock that dragon pulse." He chuckled. "I must say… that was one strong dragon pulse there. Obviously, the ambient draconic energy increased Bagon's abilities."

"They can do that?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Heh!" Derrick laughed. "Ya sure have a lot to learn if ya wants to become a dragon trainer. Why do ya think there's so few of them out there?"

"I just… thought that it was because dragons are so rare." Ash mumbled, never having thought that bit.

"Heh! The innocence of youth! The reason why _Dragon tamers_ are so rare is because most dragons eat 'em up!"

That shut Ash up.

"…. What?"

"Dragons are prideful species, lad. And a lot of them are pseudo-legendary. That bagon of yours, when it evolves to Salamence, that's a _pseudo-legendary_ , like Dragonite, here in Kanto."

"….."

"There must've been something in ya that ya'r dragon listened to ya'r command, even after so many failures. Arceus knows I've seen enough of those chums trying to tame dragons and failing spectacularly."

It was a terrifying and humbling realization.

 _A dragon tamer._ Ash realized. He had always glorified having a dragon team, but he had never realized that deep within, that mindset had been born of a simple subconscious wish.

It was why he had rooted after getting a charmander as a starter.

 _And now I've a bagon. A dragon. A pseudo-legendary. Shit! This is… this is…_

"Anyway lad, I need ya'r Bagon to… uhm… _sniff,_ the draconic energy in the cavern and lead us to the place where it is most concentrated."

A suspicion formed in Ash's mind. "Would it also be the place that's generating all these… cold winds as well?"

Derrick grinned.

* * *

The group had travelled for several hours. Occasionally, there would be a chain of walls that would need to be broken, usually by Metagross though at times, Derrick would ask Ash for the services of his rhyhorn. Said rhyhorn was only too glad to tackle down walls, much to his trainer's amusement. Behind them, the old steel pokémon floated, humming slowly as it levitated itself with pure psychic force.

The deeper they seemed to go, the more the psychic interference seemed to rise. Even Ash, who had grown up around a psychic, had begun to slowly feel it. Initially, it had been an odd humming sound coming from a distant area, but it had slowly turned into a slow, albeit pounding headache, enough that Ash had to stop for a moment in order to get out a couple of analgesics for himself and his companion.

And the biting cold seemed to just keep on _increasing._ Even the psychic shields that metagross had put up all around seemed unable to keep the chilly cold winds from devouring them.

"Bae—Bagon!" The baby dragon stopped in its path, pointing excitedly at the blank stretch of rocks in front of them.

"It is this wall." Ash yelled amidst the roaring winds. "Beyond the wall is the source of all this."

"Ash!" Derrick yelled back, "Use your rhyhorn one last time."

"Okay!" Ash agreed, calling his ground type out. "Rhyhorn, use tackle against that wall!"

That had been a mistake.

The moment the rock-type had shattered past the rock boundary, a wave of extra-terrestrial energy radiated out from the insides towards them. The moment it hit rhyhorn, the rock-type instantly changed into pure energy and returned to its pokeball. The shockwaves reached past the broken wall fragments, and slammed into the psychic defenses that metagross had raised in haste, all thanks to its powerful supercomputing mind.

Only if that had been enough.

The sheer strength behind the shock wave hadn't shattered metagross defenses, but it sent them recoiling back several feet away.

"What… the hell is that?" Ash spoke aloud in awe.

There, visible past the broken wall, several hundred feet away, was a large pyramidal rock, bright silvery sheen radiating from its very surface, with _hundreds_ of Clefairy and Clefable, sitting at the base of the large monolith, _chanting._ A powerful barrier of extra-terrestrial magic protected the monolith as well as the Clefairy within it, and on top of the barrier, perched like only a _King_ could, sat a gigantic avian. Its entire body was royal blue, with a golden sheen towards its wings, and a bright crimson crown above its dark eyes, jet black and piercing with its gaze drawn upon the intruders who had chanced upon its sanctorum.

It raised its wings upward, each wingspan a dozen feet at minimum, as powerful icy, cold wind _shattered_ its way past the walls, aimed at the complete and utter annihilation of those who had intruded upon its sacred grounds.

The grounds of the king of all that is water and ice in the world.

"Articuno…." Derrick breathed in reverence.

The powerful shock wave had shaken Ash into action. Instantly, he pulled rhyhorn out. "Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb!"

Said creature smashed its powerful legs onto the ground, raising several plates of rock before them, creating a rudimentary shield.

"Not enough, Ash." Derrick yelled. "Return your rhyhorn back. Only a pseudo-legendary has any chance against a legendary."

"What- you mean?"

"That is the king of the water and ice, lad." The old man yelled, as metagross manifested more psychic defenses in front of them, as the initial ones shattered into nothingness. _"Articuno."_

"Articuno…." Ash breathed. Without haste, he recalled rhyhorn back.

"Metagross, I need a no-interference zone right now!" The man yelled, as metagross began humming, louder than ever, radiating out powerful waves all around them, as any and all possible interference ceased to exist for the time being.

A part of Ash wondered if he could even breathe inside this zone.

"Alakazam, I need your aid." The man yelled, releasing a jet of light from another of his pokeballs, liberating out a female, but no less potent Alakazam, who stood her ground, looking calmly, in wait for orders.

"When I give the signal, teleport us out of here, to the exit of the cave. _All of us,_ is that clear?"

 **Crystal.** The smooth female voice resonated.

"We have only one shot at this, my friend." Derrick chuckled mirthlessly. "On three, throw down the defences and use it."

Metagross hummed.

"Now!" Derrick ordered, as the defences vanished, as all hell broke loose.

"Flash cannon!"

For Ash, it was only a blinding light. One with energy the likes of which he had never experienced, as Metagross threw out a singular burst of psychic energy all in one single strike at the legendary bird of ice.

Articuno screeched, enraged at the intruder's defiance, as it collected a mist of latent energy and fired off a gigantic ice beam, which smashed against the flash cannon attack.

"Teleport, now!"

* * *

The last thing he had seen was the powerful ice-beam smash against the equally powerful Flash Cannon attack, before everything turned jet-dark for an instant, and the next moment, he was standing right at the other entrance, the one which exited towards Cerulean city. Beside him, Derick stood panting, while Alakazam was unfazed as ever. Metagross on the other hand, looked slightly worse for wear.

"What… what was that?" Ash asked in desperation.

"That… dear lad, was what happens when we challenge the presence of a legendary." Derrick explained, still panting.

 _Legendary…._

For an instant, his mind went back to when rhyhorn had slammed the wall open, and had been _forced_ to return by the sheer presence of Articuno. To think that Metagross had not only been able to stand against such a powerful presence, but force it defend itself, spoke volumes about the sheer power the behemoth wielded.

 _Wow…._

"Now Ash", Derrick spoke, having gained his composure back, "I must ask you to keep whatever you saw in there, a complete secret. We wouldn't want malicious organizations to try and make an attempt to capture Articuno, should they come to know about its existence inside the mountain. Can I… can I trust you to do that?"

"Sure." Ash promised. "I… won't tell anyone."

"Good lad." Derrick answered. He politely ignored mentioning that metagross had in fact, sealed the information inside the boy's mind. Ash would be able to think about it, but would _never_ be able to share that information out with anyone else. The power of a psychic, after all, was unparalleled beyond belief.

"Now… I guess you should be leaving for Cerulean city, right?" he continued, as the teen shook his head. "Good, and take care of that metang, and that bagon… they are both amazing pokémon with infinite potential."

"I will, you can be sure of that." Ash promised.

"See you then, lad. I'll… get back to my work. You take care."

"Same to you, Mr. Derrick." Ash wished, as he turned away and walked down the mountainous road that led to Cerulean city. He couldn't wait to unlock more of his Bagon's power, and his metang as well… considering what he had learned about metagross's potential back there in the cave.

 _The sheer power…._

 _Wait._

A single, troubling thought rose in his mind. Something that Derrick had mentioned.

 _Only a pseudo-legendary has any chance against a legendary…._

His mind went back to the powerful defences erected by the steel behemoth, followed by the burst of pure energy that had pushed Articuno to the defensive… and then he remembered the sheer presence emanated by the pokémon when he first laid eyes on him.

His hand subconsciously strayed into his belt, and plucked the pokeball that now contained in it, a metang. A metang that evolved into metagross.

 _Only a pseudo-legendary has any chance against a legendary…._

"Hole-ly Shit!"

* * *

 **AN: HOLY SHIT! I cannot believe I wrote 9000 words in a single day. Damn! Anyway, please let me know what you guys think of this. Constructive suggestions and reviews are most appreciated.**


	3. The Waterflowers of Cerulean

"Hey! Hey!"

The violent nudge against his shoulder shook him off from a troubled, psychic-induced slumber. A little movement, and a slight pain shifted the pain away, as Ash Ketchum discovered he had eyes. After an enormous struggle, and several moments of shutting them down, he finally managed to pull himself up, as he realized that both his arms and legs were tied with strong ropes all over.

"Don't bother."

The other voice finally registered in his head, as he looked to his right, seeing his companion, pressed against the wall, and incarcerated, looking at him with a slight frown on his face. The person, a young man around sixteen or so, Ash mused, wearing a purple jacket above his white shirt and khaki pants, with long, slightly purple hair, falling all over his face.

"Now that you've had your beauty sleep, it's time to get us out of here!"

"… But…"

"Shut up midget, and just do as I say." The young man looked around for a while, before whispering… "It's time, Misdreavous."

The air around him suddenly darkened as _something_ condensed into an entity of otherworldly aura, before it formed out the features of a tiny, floating pokémon.

 _A ghost._ Ash realized.

"A little psy-strike should do it." The elder boy commanded.

"Meese…" The little ghost drawled, before it manifested a single, miniature shock wave out of nothingness and directed it towards the ropes binding his hands. The ropes cut off instantly, as the young man used it to his benefit, getting rid of the rest of his ropes.

"Help the midget," He commanded, much to Ash's scowl.

"I'm not a midget." He retorted.

"Sure…" The other person drawled.

Out of his incarceration and free to stand up, Ash inspected himself. "I still have my pokeballs with me." He whispered in elation.

"Yeah, I'd say that was pretty crappy on their part. Must be some mindless grunts or something."

"Grunts?" Ash looked perplexed.

The other guy gave him a pitying look. "You are really a newbie in this, aren't you?" He scowled as he glanced at Ash's belt. "Five active pokeballs. You'd think someone with five pokémon would know what he's heading for!"

"Huh?" Ash thought.

"Huh?" Ash said.

That proved that on rare occasions, Ash Ketchum's mind and mouth did, in fact, work in coalition.

"Who are you?"

The young man gave him a sneer. "Paul."

"I'm Ash. Ask Ketchum."

"I'd say nice to meet you, but you're not worth it." Paul sneered again. "You are making me late."

"Right!" Ash jumped up. "Let's get out of this place."

* * *

"Man… this place is huge!" Ash complained, as he trudged along the underground route, following Paul and his Misdreavous.

"Shout out a bit louder, and you can guarantee yourself a permanent stay in this place." Paul mocked.

"…. You mean the grunts?"

"No, I meant that if you don't shut up with your stupid talk, I might be inclined to have Misdreavous hit with a _confuse ray_ and let you sleep forever in this wretched place…"

"…." Ash thought.

"…." Ash said.

Silence prevailed between the two for exactly thirteen seconds.

"How did you get here?" Paul asked.

"Huh?"

"How…. Did you… get… _here?"_ Paul repeated sardonically, as if speaking to a little child. A little, extremely dull child.

"I was…." Ash began…

* * *

 **A few hours ago…**

It had started with him travelling towards Cerulean city. He had already covered a third of the path in around four hours, and was passing through the final remnants of the mountainous landscape. The place was rather loud, with random explosions occurring at distances, with boulders falling down the cliffs now and then. He could also see a couple of Onix smashing their head into the mountains, creating tunnels as they progressed further into the monoliths.

 _This must be the region they were talking about on television._

It had been in the news recently. There was a new set of mountain tunnels being created by the League to facilitate better transport for young trainers. Since Cerulean city was _only_ directly connected to Vermillion city, and was blocked on all sides by the sea, and by a huge mountain on the south-west separating it from Pallet, the League was working on the creation of safe transport routes to ensure better transport facilities in and out of the city through means of mountain-tunnelling.

"Now, now… what do we have here?"

Ash spun back, and nearly died, as a huge rocky boulder seemed to slam into his face, which it would, had he not dove to his right in haste.

"Hey, what's your-?" Ash began indignantly, before stopping midway, as he twisted his left leg, just in time to avoid getting squashed by another of those floating boulders.

Pokémon. He realized. The rock boulder in front of him had a somewhat sad-faced eyes and mouth, with a protrusion on the top-left which formed a miniature version of itself. The other boulder he had missed a moment ago, contradictorily, had a rather jolly countenance, though the protrusion was absent.

 **Koffing, the poison gas pokémon. Koffing embodies toxic substances. It mixes the toxins with raw garbage to set off a chemical reaction that results in a terribly powerful poison gas. The higher the temperature, the more gas is concocted by this pokémon.**

 **Weezing, the evolved form of Koffing. Weezing alternately shrinks and inflates its twin bodies to mix together toxic gases inside. The more the gases are mixed, the more powerful the toxins become. The Pokémon also becomes more putrid.**

Dexter didn't delay in its duties, as Ash pulled two pokeballs from his waist. "Go, Pidge-"

The rest of his words remained unsaid as a sharp force hit him on the head, rendering him unconscious.

* * *

 **Back to the present…**

"So they put you out without even a battle?" Paul sneered. "How pathetic one can be!"

"Hey!" Ash retorted. "I'll have you know that I'm-"

"Shut it, midget! You don't want the grunts to hear you." Paul warned, his voice a little low and stern.

"So…." Ash lowered his voice. "How did you get here?"

Paul frowned. "I was…working with the miners, helping with the mountain tunnelling."

"… But why?"

"It's obvious. Because there's money there, and a chance to catch a nice cave-dwelling pokémon. Personally, I'd have liked a Steelix for myself, though a powerful Onix wouldn't be bad, I guess."

"A… Steelix? I didn't even think that one could find one in the wild, forget catching one." Ash replied in surprise.

"Eh, you're right." Paul half-sneered. "Guess you know _something_ after all."

"Take that back!"

Paul didn't deign to dignify that with a comment.

"So… did you find one?" Ash asked after a while.

Paul looked away, as the two young men walked past the underground tunnel. "… Almost. That was when I was… taken by surprise by these idiots over here. The woman I was paired with… she was one of them."

"Them?"

"Team Rocket." Paul seethed. "Heard of them?"

"Can't say I have." Ash frowned.

Paul scoffed.

"So they caught you by surprise as well." Ash drawled. "Guess you're just as pathetic as me!"

The other boy's face hardened. "Guess this pathetic person should've left you tied and dead in that cavern."

"Now you're just playing dirty."

"….."

'So, how do you plan on catching the Onix, when we get outta' here?"

Paul smirked. "I'll use one of my pokémon."

"Your pokémon can take down an Onix? Just like that?"

"I don't want _an_ Onix. I want a _powerful_ Onix."

"Any pokémon can become powerful with the right training." Ash retorted.

"Guess that makes the difference between you and me, kid." Paul returned. "Tell me, how long have you been a trainer?"

Ash muttered something under his breath.

"Not audible." Paul deadpanned.

"A week."

The purple-haired young man muttered a soft expletive. "And you've caught _five_ pokémon already? What did you do? Keep throwing those balls at anything that moves?"

That… took Ash aback. Normally, people would have applauded the fact that he had caught five pokémon. Gary for one, had caught _twenty,_ he reminded himself painfully.

"What's… wrong with that?"

Paul sneered. "I've on the field as a trainer for four years, and caught over three hundred pokémon. You know how many I retained?"

Ash waited for the answer.

"Seventeen."

 _The… hell?_

"And the rest… of them?" Ash knew he wasn't going to like it.

'I gave them away. Left them. Sent them back to their home. Traded them for better ones. Take your pick."

"…. Why would you do that?"

"I only have slots for _powerful_ pokémon in my team, kid. I don't want anything to do with _weaklings_." Paul drawled the last word out in a sneer.

Ash knew that the insult was on him, but he let it pass by. "I'm no weakling, but I'll never trade _any of my friends_ or desert them."

"Like everybody in the world does." Paul sighed. "Congratulations on choosing the path of mediocrity, kid."

Ash gritted his teeth. "Don't call me a kid. You're what… one… two years older than me?"

Paul's eyes hardened. "I am an experienced trainer. I've trained for four years, gotten into conferences, and travelled over three regions. Compared to me, you are nothing but a _kid,_ midget."

"When I defeat you in the Indigo Conference, then say that to me again." Ash snarled.

" _If_ you manage to get to the Indigo League conference, I'll take my words back." Paul smirked antagonistically, "past the eliminations; that is."

Ash's nails did into his skin, as his fists tightened.

"Anyway, we better get going. Wouldn't want to stay for another useless moment in present company." Paul murmured, before continuing to walk. His Misdreavous drifted beside him as he did.

Ash stood glaring at his departing companion for a moment, before he rushed to join him.

* * *

The two trainers had walked past for another hour, with the occasional bickering that kept on occurring between the two. Paul, as always, kept on increasing on Ash's _jerk_ scale with frightening intensity, as he kept on attacking and shattering each and every single of Ash's beliefs about pokémon training and battling.

"I admit, kid, that you have all the luck for interesting pokémon," Paul confessed. "I have searched for years, and _never_ found myself staring at a _shiny_ pokémon. And you, a midget newbie, got a shiny Pidgeotto flying into your hand…"

"Well, she's special."

"Yeah, I bet." Paul replied with a tone of jealousy in his voice. "A shiny Pidgeotto, with a dark parent, and knows double-team." He paused for a moment. "Want to trade it with me? I'll get you two fully-evolved pokémon in return-a Raichu and a fearow."

Curious are the ways of the world. Out of all the pokémon in the world, Paul just _had to_ mention a Raichu of all things.

"No, I wouldn't." Ash retorted. "Pidgeotto is my pokémon, and I wouldn't trade it on my life."

"Pfft!" Paul sneered. "It couldn't help to try."

Ash glared. "You should've known better than that. I'm not like you."

That, in hindsight, might have been in a mistake.

Paul's demeanour changed. "You're right, _kid._ You are _not_ like me. You'll never be able to become like me."

"Yeah? Well I've no-"

"My, my… it seems like someone has been a little naughty!" A female voice distracted them.

Instantly, the entire discussion came to an end, as Paul and Ash spun towards the source, their hands ready on their pokeballs. Standing in front of them, with at least five grunts behind her, was a curly blonde-haired woman. She was dressed in a tight-fighting black apparel with the letter R emboldened on her top. The rest of the grunts wore similar clothing though their faces weren't visible in the dim light underground.

"You…" Paul returned in a cold voice.

"How are you, Paul?" The blonde-haired woman chortled. "I'm surprised you managed to get out of the cavern so easily, and who's that with you?" She paused. "Ah, the kid from Mountain Moon. I forgot."

Ash narrowed his eyes.

"Ash Ketchum," Paul replied in a rather clear tone. "Meet Ariana Ortega. My tunnelling partner and… a bitch."

The woman, Ariana, laughed out at his description. Figuring she might as well go ahead with the formality. "Nice to meet you, Ash. I'm Ariana Ortega, or as my organization knows me, _Executive Ariana."_

Paul sucked his breath. _She's… an executive?_ His lips twisted into a smile.

"Now that the introductions are over," Ariana returned in a no-nonsense tone. "Please hand over your pokémon to us right now. The more you resist, the worse your death will be. Personally, I'd prefer a long-drawn out one."

The grunts obeyed her command and stepped forward.

"I'd rather you didn't." Paul spoke up, quietly, though the silence in the tunnels reverberated his voice. "You'll find nothing but pain if you take another step." He looked up at Ariana and gave a twisted grin. "And darling, we must stop meeting like this. This is how the rumours begin."

Ariana sneered. "Kill them both."

A sudden flash of light inundated the entire tunnel, and just as the flashes faded, the entire scenario had changed. Standing all around Ash and Paul were five humongous pokémon. From his limited knowledge, Ash could identify only three of them. Not that he had any worry, since the sudden release of pokémon had made his pokedex activate and recognize them all.

 **Blastoise. The shellfish pokémon, and final evolution of Squirtle. Blastoise has water spouts that protrude from its shell. The water spouts are very accurate. They can shoot bullets of water with enough accuracy to strike empty cans from a distance of over 160 feet.**

 **Skarmory, the armour bird pokémon. Skarmory is entirely encased in hard, protective armour. This pokémon flies at close to 190 mph. It slashes foes with its wings that possess sword-like cutting edges.**

 **Gyarados, the atrocious pokémon. A tale is told of a town that angered Gyarados. Before the sun rose the next day, flames utterly consumed the town, leaving not a trace behind.**

 **Raichu, the electric mouse pokémon, and the final evolution of Pichu. It can lose 100,000-volt bursts of electricity, instantly downing foes several times its size.**

 **Machamp, the superpower pokémon, and the final evolution of machop. It is impossible to defend against punches and chops doled out by its four arms. It's fighting spirit flares up when it faces a tough opponent.**

"Convenient." Paul drawled, glancing at Ash's pokedex. "You wouldn't happen to have another one of those in your bag, would you?"

Ash shook his head, staring at the monsters all around him.

"Too bad." Paul sighed, before turning to Ariana. "You can go now." He drawled, taunting her.

Ariana didn't move an inch, though the grunts had taken a couple of steps back.

"Perhaps I'm not making myself clear here." Paul drawled as he stepped forward, his hands wide open, gesturing towards his pokémon which drew around him protectively. "This is a threat." At his words, Gyarados gave out a roar while Raichu looked ready to shove thousands of volts of electricity through the grunts.

"In _exactly_ one minute from now, you…" he mocked Ariana—"and your little hunting party will become the prey. Now based on your previous experiences, you couldn't manage to hold me down despite… your advantage of surprise." He paused. "I'd recommend you heed my warning."

No one uttered a sound. No words had been exchanged.

And the victor of the impending battle had been decided without the battle even beginning.

* * *

"That…." Ash gushed. "—was awesome."

"At the very least you've got good taste, kid." Paul returned mockingly, though it was clear that he wasn't serious.

"Do you have to mock me every single time you speak a word?" Ash complained.

"I find myself a speaker of fluent sarcasm. I'd like you to _not_ mock my intelligence."

Ash looked away. Paul was… well, he was still a… dick, but at least, Ash… respected him. He had seen the powerful pokémon standing all around him protectively, flexing their power. He had seen the confidence in Paul's stance, the underlying belief that under no circumstances would he or his pokémon be defeated by Team Rocket. The elder young man's belief regarding pokémon training might be contradictory to Ash's own, but there was no doubt that he had gotten results.

And results _always_ spoke for themselves.

The two of them had gotten out of the tunnels, all thanks to Skarmory's aerial vantage point. It had taken another hour or so, but the two trainers had found themselves standing on the outskirts of Cerulean city.

"I suppose you're going to try for the gym badge, eh?"

"Yes, what about you?" Ash asked in curiosity.

"Meh?" Paul scoffed. "Got all of them. All twelve. I'm planning to challenge the Viridian gym leader after I'm done capturing an Onix though." He paused. "Heard he's the best of the lot or something."

 _The Viridian gym leader… of course._ "And after that?"

"Train." Paul stated in a determined voice. "There is no other way to be the Number 1, kid." He stood at the edge of the crossroads in front of them. "You'll go that way, and I'll go down this one. Get rid of your stupid notions about pokémon training and you _might_ just make it."

"You…." Ash gritted his teeth.

"Heh!" Paul smirked, before his expression went all bland. "Now get lost."

* * *

Cerulean city, or the _city of the aquiline aura,_ referring to the aquiline blue aura that surrounds the city, where the land meets the sea. Cerulean was one of the chief centres of water-based transport of goods, food and rations towards the other regions. Ships sailing for Hoenn, Johto, Sinnoh or other regions would be seen taking off from the ports every week. Needless to say, with the influx of people and pokémon from outer regions, Cerulean had a diversity unlike any other, especially in food, people and pokémon.

It had taken Ash another day and a half to enter the main city-premises, as he found himself heading towards the Pokémon center, for the sake of his pokémon and himself. The previous day, he had met two other trainers, and had quick battles with both, earning him a quick thousand pokedollars. Bagon, Pidgeotto and rhyhorn had gotten a little stronger, the latter finally managing to master _rock tomb_ to perfection.

Pidgeotto had slightly developed in muscle, and was progressing with the _hurricane,_ though _twister_ would've been a better move to learn. However, twister was a draconic move and performing it required Pidgeotto to sieve through the air, absorbing the ambient draconic energy in the atmosphere, and unleash it in the form of _twister._ However, Pidgeotto was having a tough time trying to gather _any amounts_ of draconic energy in the first place, and that was his cause for worry.

Bagon had progressed further with _dragon pulse,_ and was now trying to learn _dragon breath._ It was similar to dragon pulse only that instead of compressing all the draconic energy into a condensed, compressed state, he would have to _hold it in_ and release it out _slowly._

Rhyhorn had, in simple terms, become a rock-armoured growlithe, considering how very _chummy_ he was being. Ash had been forced to play _fetch_ with him once, only that rhyhorn had apparently forgotten that he needed to _stop and collect_ the stick, and just kept on running.

It would've been fun if Ash wouldn't have his lungs begging for air.

"Mr. Ketchum!" came the smooth, familiar mechanical voice, waking him up from his thoughts as he waited in the lobby. "Please report to the front desk and collect your pokémon."

Still thinking about his recent experiences, both with the nigh invincible metagross, his altercation with the legendary king of ice, and Paul's somewhat _unnatural mindset_ towards training and pokémon.

" _In exactly one minute from now, you and your little hunting party will become the prey…"_

 _Exactly_ how much training had Paul and his pokémon undertaken to have _that_ level of self-confidence hanging on his every word? Irrespective of the young man's… _incredible shallowness_ over picking pokémon, it was crystal clear that those he _had_ picked, went ahead to become the best they could be, and they were still training.

" _There is no other way to be Number 1, kid…"_

 _One day I'll be number 1, and I'll show you then. Just you wait and see._

There was no surety whether they would cross paths again or not. But one thing was sure.

He wouldn't _ever_ forget his name.

 _Paul._

Still busy in his thoughts, he turned past the corridor in the lobby to reach the front desk-

And fell down on the floor after hitting a miniature truck.

Wait.

"Hey, watch it you mor- Ash?"

 _Misty._ Ash realized. _So she did manage to get out of the forest with one go._

"Ash?" Misty repeated, as she pulled herself off the floor.

"Yeah?" He answered uncertainly, not sure how the girl was going to react next. Pushing himself off the floor, he faced the orange-haired girl. "What're you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I-?" Misty stopped her tirade. "This is Cerulean city, _my city._ I live here."

 _Right. She did mention that…._

 _I guess…_

"What are you doin' here anyway? Shouldn't you be in Pewter? Unless-"

"Pewter badge." Ash smirked, showing her the inner contents of his jacket, where he had pinned the boulder badge. "And in one go."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "So _you_ are here to challenge the Cerulean gym is it?" Her expression became slightly… shifty, but Ash being himself, didn't notice it out of his enthusiasm.

"Yepp." He answered, before walking past her as he stood at the front desk, and collected his pokémon. "Say what? You have any pointers for me to use against the Cerulean gym?"

"Uh…." Misty looked baffled.

"Miss water-" began Nurse Joy but Misty interrupted her midway. "Yeah, The Waterflowers are the gym leaders of Cerulean city." She sent Joy a pleading look, hoping the nurse would take the hint.

"Gym… _leaders?_ As in plural?"

"Yeah, Ash. They are… three sisters, who are the gym leaders. You…" she stopped, appearing to think something quickly. Reaching a decision, she continued, "you know what? Come with me, I'll show you where the gym is…"

"Uh… I don't…." Ash began, but quickly withdrew all opposition on seeing her glare. "…sure."

"Fine. Follow me!" With that, _Misty_ walked out of the pokémon center, with a thoroughly flustered Ash Ketchum walking behind her.

"Cerulean city is a symbol of the flow of water, Ash. Everything _here,_ is about _water pokémon._ The gym leaders, are _masters_ of the water-type."

Ash mused over his decision of coming to Cerulean in the first place. Water-type were in general, vulnerable to electric and grass-type, apart from the occasional powerful fire-type, neither of which he had in his arsenal. On the positive side, dragon-types were mostly immune to water-types, and that meant that bagon _might just_ have a chance against the gym leader's water pokémon. Another thing to consider was that steel-typing was _quite_ effective against water-type, especially considering metang's psychic nature. Maybe… just maybe if he would wing it…

"I have a steel-typing and a dragon-type. I am… hoping to rely on their lack of vulnerability against water-type."

"Reverse-mapping." Misty raised an eyebrow. "Usually it is the gym leader's side that does that on occasion. Most trainers I've met usually go for electric or grass-types for an easy win."

"And how _easy_ of a win is it?" Ash inquired.

Misty sighed. "Depends."

"On?"

"On what is more important to you…." Misty replied evasively.

* * *

"This is… insanity. Who in the right mind would just… _give away_ a badge like that? Isn't that… against the rules or something?" Ash barked in frustration.

"The choice is ultimately yours." Daisy, eldest of the Waterflower sisters, and gym leader of Cerulean, let out a sigh. "You can either have the battle, or the badge."

"But… why not both?" Ash questioned.

"Listen to me… Ash, was it?" The second sister, Violet remarked, "The Cerulean gym is regarded as one of the toughest gyms for a reason. Ever since we three have taken up the gym leader positions, the number of trainers who have gotten badges from the Cerulean gym have been falling, since they kept on losing. Why, last year, we only have _five_ people who managed to get away with winning, and even then, it was a coin-flip case."

Ash gulped.

"That is why," Lily, the youngest of the three spoke, "we decided to just… _give away_ the badges to anyone who comes in, asking for them. It's our way of… not getting ousted from our gym leader positions for… _discouraging trainer spirit,_ as the League puts it."

"But-"

"Consider it like this, kid," Violet spoke again. "We only allow a trainer to try his luck at defeating us _twice,_ and they still fail. You are a budding one, with only a single badge. It's best if you just took the badge and walked off. That way you could spend your time training your pokémon as well." She gave him an over-sweetened smile.

"…."

"So Ash, what do you say?" Lily asked.

"No."

"Say that again?"

"No." Ash repeated, looking up at the three gym leaders. "I've come to challenge the Cerulean gym, and I won't accept the badge without defeating you."

"Hmmm." Violet sighed. "Look, kid." Her patience was nearing now. "Let me warn you. If you take the badge now, you can have it. However, _if_ you fail to defeat us in the two attempts you've got, this…. Offer for a free badge is null and void."

 _Of course you'd say that. Just the very thing to start getting me second thoughts._ Ash thought.

"…. I still want to battle." Ash said.

Daisy let out a long-suffering sigh. "It's your funeral."

* * *

 **Around thirty minutes later.**

"That… was brutal." Ash declared with a sigh, as he sat on the bench. Misty, who had _happened_ to go visit her family for some… unavoidable circumstances _just before_ Ash entered the Cerulean gym, had been back, since her… _familial issues_ were temporarily solved.

"Well, I did tell you it's a matter of what's important to you." Misty empathised.

Ash hung his head low. _Ten seconds._ That was what it had taken. Ten seconds before Lily's dewgong had literally wiped the floor with Bagon. Since the conditions stated that Ash had to win the first battle to go through the second one, he had gotten himself out of the gym premises without comment.

"Well… you should know that Lily always trains her dewgong against fire and grass types. Her dewgong is the last pokémon you can expect to beat with _tackle."_

"You're… saying that, Now?" Ash accused.

"You're the challenger. It's your job to be prepared." Misty waved off, much to his consternation.

"Damn!" Ash cursed.

"So… what are you going to do?" Misty asked in curiosity. 'I mean… I'm pretty sure Daisy will give you the badge even now if you ask nicely."

"Uh… out of the question!" Ash refuted, standing up indignantly. "I refuse to be pitied by anyone, and certainly not by a gym leader."

"Oh." Misty looked at him, perplexed. "So what are you going to do now?"

Ash gave her a contagious grin. "What else? I'll train."

His stomach groaned.

"Uh… after having some lunch, that is."

Misty stared at him in confusion. Finally, making a decision, she nodded. "Very well, I'll help."

"Help?" He retorted.

"Yeah! You've a poliwag, right? I can help you train him. Besides, I've spent my entire life around water pokémon. Maybe I can give you some tips about how to counter their moves."

"Uh… sure, but why are you helping me?"

Oops. Wrong question. Ash backpedalled, "I mean to say is… you don't even know me. Why would you spend your time training my pokémon when you have… uhm… familial things to do, I guess?"

Misty's countenance shifted from a light red coloration to normal. "I… uhm… because you have a water pokémon to be trained, and I being a budding water master cannot witness a water pokémon having to suffer _poor training regimes_ because his trainer is incompetent when it comes to water pokémon. Also," she went on in a single breath, "My honour as a budding water master forces me to correct the _piss poor_ ignorance of a trainer when it comes to water pokémon."

"…. Right." Ash agreed, not wanting to try get the better of the scary girl.

"Humph!" Misty scoffed. "Let's get you started. Come with me!"

"Okay metang, I want you to use metal claw on Bagon. Bagon keep dodging and only use dragon claw in the extreme situation, all right?"

"Tang!" "Bae!"

"Get started!"

"I have to ask, Ash Ketchum, how do you land yourself on such… rare pokémon so easily?" Misty asked, a little perplexed. "A shiny Pidgeotto, a metang and a dragon? I'm almost disappointed that your water-type is a common one in Kanto."

"Well poliwag is special in his own way, aren't you, Poliwag?" Ash asked.

"Poli!" said tadpole raised its head in agreement.

"Anyway," Misty began, "I'll try to teach Poliwag hydro pump personally. In the meantime, you carry on with the rest." Declaring, she walked away towards the river bank, leaving a somewhat confused Ash and an even more confused Poliwag behind.

"You should… go with her." Ash spoke up after a moment. "She'll be teaching you, while I take the time to teach a few tricks to metang over here."

The tadpole considered that for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "Poli!" he let out a cry, and quickly raced after Misty.

Meanwhile, metang was having a rather hard time trying to get a hit on bagon, who was surprisingly nimble for something of its weight and body shape. Every time it managed to land a hit, Bagon had at the very least, head-butted back or used dragon claw to escape its clenches.

"Okay, that's enough." Ash ordered, as the psychic type stopped attacking Bagon, who let out a whine of irritation. Apparently, getting the metang all worked up was quite entertaining to the budding dragon.

"Rhyhorn, I want you to continuously use rock tomb until you can manage Earthquake." Ash commanded the rock-type before turning to his starter. "You, little buddy, are going to use dragon pulse to break the rocks." He turned towards the floating metang next to him. "You… come with me."

Metang made an odd mechanical noise.

* * *

"You know metang… I've lived with psychic pokémon all my life." Ash spoke softly. "I mean… my mom is an assistant researcher and she's totally psyched about psychic-types." He chuckled as he remembered her antics. "She's gotten a Mr. Mime, who hates me by the way, one loner of a kadabra, and a very chummy kirlia. Then, there's Professor Oak's Alakazam, who's like… really, really strong."

He paused, gathering his words. "What I mean is… I don't really know much about metang and metagross in particular, except that you are you know… steel and psychic, and Mr. Derrick told me that you guys are rarely accommodating to humans. So what I was wondering is… out of everyone in the colony, why did _you_ choose to come with me?"

Said steel-type was hovering in the air, staring at its trainer.

"I mean… I understand that you came with me because I'm a trainer and everything, but you guys are like... super-smart and hence, must have your own desires like any other pokémon…" He paused, this was getting nowhere, and he was all over the place. "See, I don't know what you thought about me back at Mount Moon, but well… I'm just Ash. I just… I mean, I saw just how powerful metagross can be, and I don't want that you come with me, expecting something else and then repenting it. I just… I don't want to disappoint someone who has the potential to grow into the strongest pseudo-legendary."

Metang did not respond, but merely stared back at Ash with its red eyes.

Ash took a deep breath. "So tell me, Metang… what do you expect from me?"

Metang made an odd, mechanical groan, as its trainer suddenly felt mentally bombarded with a number of images rushing into his mind. He could see the colony of Beldum, the old metagross, several metagross, a large crystal with hundreds of Clefairy all around it, bright light, a dark cavern, a jet-black crystal, an island, Ash himself, and then bright light engulfed Ash's mind.

"I… I don't understand."

Metang made another of those groans. This time, another memory, one that belonged to Ash himself, rose back into his mind, and just like that, he was back in the heart of Mount Moon, staring at the old metagross, its powerful eyes staring back at him.

 _ **Power is a state of mind, human hatchling.**_

"Power… you want to grow more powerful?" Ash tried to guess.

Another image shot up in his mental landscape. He could see metagross firing a full-powered flash cannon towards Articuno, the powerful attack slamming into the legendary's own ice-beam, as the collision shattered the walls on all sides.

"You want to become powerful enough to challenge a legendary?"

This time there wasn't an image. Instead, there was a dull, broken voice inside his head. Almost like someone was trying to speak over the radio in an area of high network interference.

 **Met….an… is…. Is…. Meta…is… Metagross.**

 **Metang….is….hive….hive….is…hive…is…is…meta…metang…metagross…**

Initially, the words didn't make any sense. But then, something came up, something that Derrick had mentioned.

 _Metagross have a hive mind, Ash. They are never separated from their colony. All metagross are part of the hive and the hive is in every metagross._

"I suppose…" Ash replied with finality. "I suppose you want to say that if you are powerful, then the hive is powerful by extension, and you can do so by becoming a strong metagross."

This time the steel-type only gave a single answer in its mechanical voice. "Metang!"

"Well, that's as good a start as any."

"Metang!" Another set of image flooded into Ash's mind. This time it was he himself back in Pallet town, talking to his mother. The next image had him appearing for the licence examinations. Then he saw himself standing in front of Pikachu, and the final had him throwing the pokeball to capture the falling metang after bagon had fired his first ever dragon pulse.

"What do I want?" Ash suggested.

"tang!"

"I…" Ash's thoughts stopped short as he looked down onto the ground. A few days ago, had anyone else asked him this question, he would've boasted of his desire to become a Pokémon Master, of his wish to capture all pokémon and his dream team of dragons. But now…

"I… I don't know. Not really." His mouth spoke in an emotionless tone. "Right now, my only aim is to make sure that you guys, all of you, become as powerful as possible. That, and challenge the gyms of the Indigo circuit."

"tang-?"

Ash looked up at the levitating steel-type, and gave a thin smile.

"Let's go get the others, shall we?"

* * *

 **Sometime later…**

"I don't understand. How do you even manage to teach a pokémon a move without a pokedex?"

Misty giggled. "A lady is allowed a few secrets, isn't she?" She chuckled at his expression. "Besides, all you need to know is that Poliwag is now able to use _water pulse._ That should give him an ace in the fight, right?"

"… Right." Ash drawled, not taking her words at face value for one bit.

"So where are you heading now?" Misty asked, eager to change the subject. "Speaking of which, Misty…."

"Yeah?"

Ash paused. "No…uh… nothing."

Misty gave him a weird look.

Ash looked away, as the two of them continued walking.

"Hey Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"After winning the Cascade badge, where are you going to try next?"

Ash frowned to himself. "I was… planning on getting some more training done, and then get myself a ferry to Vermillion."

"Uh-huh, and you do know that the Route 24 takes you directly to Vermillion, right?"

"Yeah!" Ash rubbed the back of his head. "It's just that… I don't really want to walk four days when the ferry could make do in one."

"It will still take you a day's walk to reach the ferry." Misty pointed out.

"Still…" Ash insisted, making the girl drop the topic.

"What about you?"

Misty blinked. "What about me?"

"I mean…" Ash hesitated a bit, "not that I'm not grateful or anything for everything you've done for me, but… what do you… personally, do?"

"I… well," Misty considered her words. "I just… maintain my family business. I plan to take over it in a few years."

"Oh." That perked his interest. "What business?"

"It deals with the training and breeding of water pokémon."

"Oh, so that's what you meant when you said that you've grown around water pokémon."

"I didn't think you'd remember that." Misty muttered under her breath.

Silence pervaded for a while between the teens as they walked.

"So, where are we heading?"

"Huh? Oh, just the Pokemart. Need to purchase some… _TM's."_ Ash's voice toned down as it hit him. Glancing back at the redhead, he opened his mouth, but then decided against it, and looked away.

"You sure you don't have anything to say?"

"… no, not really." Ash returned evasively.

"If you say so." Misty replied, her tone laced with disbelief. "Anyway, take the right."

* * *

Pokemarts were, in general, a shopping mall for all things pokémon. Need full restores, or potions, or even the general healing paste, this is your place to visit. Need to check on the latest influx of poketches or travelling equipment, this is your place to visit. Besides, with Silph Co. and Devon Corp., the two companies invested in pokeball production being active investors in the pokemart business model, you can be sure that any new Silph or Devon product will be on the shelves before you know it.

And then, there was the main attraction. TM's.

A rather new invention that had been patented around a decade back, TM's had become every trainer's top purchase. A magnetic disc into which, through advanced psychic manipulation of a particular pokémon's memories, a _move_ can be recorded, and later, transplanted into another. In such a fashion, a squirtle who has never progressed beyond the standard water gun attack, can be taught the near-invincible hydro pump or something effective like _ice-beam,_ without even having to teach it to them in the first place. Just put the magnetic disc inside a specially constructed TM machine, and administer it into the pokeball containing your pokémon, and presto! Said pokémon automatically acquires the _knowledge and muscle memory_ necessary to perform the move, though it might take several attempts to perform it _flawlessly_ in the first place. Before the invention of TM's, pokémon used to take a much longer time to grow, gather innate energies enough to start learning a move, and then some more to perform it flawlessly. That meant delayed evolution, and often it was seen, that a first-generation pokémon would take _at least_ a year to begin showing signs of evolution. Now though, it's almost… normal to see a trainer with less than a year worth of experience having fully-evolved species at his command.

The best thing however, happened some three years ago, something that entirely changed the pokémon world and our thinking about pokémon.

The TM 2nd gen.

Prior to this, it was only possible to _copy_ the muscle memory of _moves_ as long as it was inter-species duplication, or in rare cases, inter-type, if the move in question was a general one like _flamethrower._ A very notable case in this regard is _Shadow ball,_ a ghost-type move that was limited to pure Ghost-type pokémon. However, with some _tweaking,_ Shadow-ball could be administered into some dual-types as well, which had _Ghost_ as one of their typing. That was the most that could be done with the help of TM.

A decade ago, training _ghost-types_ was a very good idea, should one decide to fight against psychic pokémon, since psychic attacks were relatively ineffective against most ghosts. Such a flaw in the natural order was abused by malicious organizations who used this… situation to counteract the… psychic security setup of hospitals, warehouses, pokemarts and the like.

The TM 2nd gen. changed everything.

Now, it was _possible_ for a psychic-type, say a Kadabra, to be able to learn and successfully perform a _shadow-ball,_ a ghost-type move, which is, for example, highly effective against ghost-type. At the same time, it is quite possible for a ghost-type, like Haunter, to learn a psychic-type attack like _psychic._ Such freedom of transferring moves amongst different types, has increased the diversity of pokémon moves, breeding, battles and the like. Of course, the 2nd generation is far from perfect. For instance, it is _almost impossible,_ for say… an Arcanine, to learn something like _water-gun,_ or for a Blastoise to learn _flamethrower._ That is why, researchers at Silph Co. and Devon Corp. are presently studying the physiology of the dragon and the fairy-type, the former because of its versatility and affinity towards _all typing._ The latter is usually a center of research because of the ability _metronome,_ a move that can literally, _summon_ a move of _any type_ as well.

Ash and Misty stood in front of the TM corner, the male staring widely at the vast selections of TM's available, along with the newest batch of ultraballs, a modified version of the pokeball on the shelves.

"So…?" Misty asked. "Have you decided?"

Ash looked like a kid in the candy store. "I have roughly five thousand pokedollars in my trainer account. Even if I go by the rations from the centers, I still have a maximum of thirty five hundred that I can spend on TM, but I want them all."

Misty chuckled.

Ash turned towards her. "Can you give me some time alone? I need time to decide."

"Sure, Ash." Misty nodded. "I'll go check on the other items on the second floor. I'll see you at the outer lobby, alright?"

"Okay." Ash nodded, before turning to face the expansive selection spread out before him. "Now… which one do I take?"

* * *

 **The next morning.**

Ash Ketchum stood inside the Cerulean gym, facing off Lily, the youngest of the three sisters, and his first opponent on his way to the Cascade badge. After a lot of thought on the subject, he had gone ahead and purchased the TM's for _protect_ and _toxic._ He had debated over purchasing the TM for _flamethrower_ but the chances of Bagon learning it on his own, or Ash himself catching a fire-type were high enough. If nothing else, he could always get himself the TM from the pokemart in Vermillion city when he got there.

"So Ash," Lily asked with a smirk. "Are you ready to face defeat again?"

Any other day Ash would've got a rebuttal ready. Today however, he just kept silent and waited for the woman to continue.

"So now you're giving me the silent treatment, eh Ash?" Lily chortled. "Very well, go Dewgong!"

"Dieu!" The evolved seal pokémon clapped her hands, as she laid on one of the many platforms floating on the large swimming pool that was the battle ground for the match. Ash and Lily herself, were standing on the edges of the pool, on the concreate platforms made for the trainers to stand on.

"I choose you… Pidgeotto!"

"Pidgo!" The avian let out a war cry, as she hovered in the air above the seal, staring down at her opponent with a sharp glare.

"A _shiny_ Pidgeotto?" Lily swooned in approval, much to Ash's irritation, who yelled, "Pidgeotto, _you know what to do."_

" _Pidgo!"_ cried the bird.

"All right, Dewgong. Use icy wind."

"Use _protect_ and go for Double-team!"

Instantly, the entire area was thick with icy flakes and wind blowing as Pidgeotto used the _protect_ move to increase her defences, before creating several dozens of illusionary avians in the air. It was only a testament to her abilities that her skill with Double-team had improved by leaps and bounds in such a short while.

"Now use peck on dewgong!"

The flock of illusionary avians shot towards the seal pokémon in fury.

"Dewgong, jump into the water."

Ash smirked. "Use _whirl wind."_

The entire body of water started to twist and turn into concentric circles as the bird pokémon began to execute whirl wind in haste.

"Dewgong, get to the surface and use aurora-beam on Pidgeotto!"

The seal pokémon did so, but due to some _oddity,_ her attacks missed the avian _every single time._

"Now Pidgeotto, use double-team and use peck!"

"Return attack with aqua tail."

Dewgong slammed an aqua tail attack on Pidgeotto but the bird hadn't missed her strike and had made a sharp peck onto the seal's abdomen before the aqua tail had come slamming into her.

"Air slash," Ash commanded, "it should be starting any moment now."

"Pidgo!" the bird cried, the excitation of the battle burning high in its blood, as it flexed its wings and slammed two long energy strokes onto the seal, hitting true both times.

"Dewgong!" Lily cried.

"Now, Pidge0tto, go for it. Use _twister!"_

The bird have another war cry, as a huge column of water rose out of the pool, the seal pokémon trying its best to come out of it, but failing miserably.

"Dewgong, get out of it!" Lily yelled in astonishment.

The whirlpool deepened in intensity, as the seal pokémon tried in vain, before ultimately getting sucked into the pool.

"N0w slam it down onto the ground." Ash replied with a sense of finality. As the waves subsided, all that was left was the unconscious white seal pokémon, its body spread-eagled on the platform.

"How is this… even possible?" Lily muttered in shock. "Dewgong can resist entire hurricanes caused by Gyarados. A tiny twister cannot beat her down."

Ash smirked. "Guess that's for me to know and you to find out, eh?"

"Hmmf!" Lily scoffed. "You might have won this round, but you are no match against Vi."

Ash just let out a deep sigh. One down, one to go.

* * *

"All right, Ash." The middle sister Violet, addressed him, her hands up on her hips in typical interrogative fashion. "You might have gotten lucky once, but can you do that, twice?"

As was agreed, the battle would be a one-on-one, just like it had been with Lily. Should he be able to win this round, the Cascade badge would be his, without question.

Ash let out a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Violet raised an eyebrow, before sending a flying kiss. "Go, Vaporeon."

The creature in front of him seemed like a fusion of a feline and a mermaid. It had gills all around its face, and an extra-long tail that looked akin to those of mermaids.

 **Vaporeon. The bubble-jet pokémon. Vaporeon underwent a spontaneous mutation and grew fins and gills that allow it to live underwater. This Pokémon has the ability to freely control water.**

"This is going to be difficult." Ash muttered to himself. "I choose you, Poliwag."

"Poli!" the familiar tadpole revealed its presence.

"Challenging a water pokémon owned by a water-master using a water-type? I don't know whether I should call it bravery or stupidity." Violet asked, raising an eyebrow at Ash's choice of pokémon.

"You can call it whatever you like after I've won the battle." Ash retorted. "Poliwag and I have trained for this, and we can win. Even if it is against your Vaporeon."

"Is that so?" Violet drawled. "Very well, Vaporeon, your prey is in front of you."

"Pore….." the water-type slowly growled.

"Poliwag, start with water gun." Ash began.

The jet of water hit Vaporeon head-first, before she automatically used an aqua-tail to flip it away.

"Pfft!" Violet sneered. "Show that poliwag a _real_ water gun."

What followed was possibly the largest jet of water Ash had ever seen coming towards them. It was, at the very least, twice as large as Poliwag's own attack.

"Water pulse!"

A ball of compressed water shot out of Poliwag's mouth, slamming into the water gun, causing a collision.

"Use ice-beam!"

"Jump into the water!"

"Apply ice-beam on the water!"

"Swift swim!"

Vaporeon forced the full power of ice-beam onto the water surface, as the liquid froze in mere seconds at the point of contact. Poliwag however, seemed to be using his swift-swim ability to his level best, as none of the ice-beams were remotely close to the frighteningly fast tadpole.

"Now jump out of the water, and throw water pulse!"

"Use water pulse yourself!"

The much larger water pulse shattered through Poliwag's attack, as it hit him face-first, throwing him onto the now icy floor.

"Hydro pum, full power." Violet went on, completely merciless, as another torrent of water smashed against the tadpole.

"Poliwag, try to endure it, and use water pulse."

It was easier said than done. Poliwag was having a worse time trying to balance itself after getting hit by that powerful water-pulse in the first place.

"Poli…."

"You can do it, Poliwag. Use protect!"

"Wag!"

Then something strange happened. Poliwag's entire body seemed to glow for a moment, as Poliwag suddenly gained ground. Unlike protect, there was no golden sheen around him. Instead, it seemed like the powerful torrent of water wasn't… affecting the tadpole at all. Rather, it seemed like Poliwag was slowly getting more control by the second as the large jet of water smashed into him.

 **Water Absorb. Poliwag's ability.** Ash checked Dexter. **Water absorb allows it to convert any water-type attack on itself into restoration energy.**

"Awesome, Poliwag!" Ash cheered.

Only if that were all there was to it. As soon as the restoration hit him high, Poliwag stood straight on the icy floor, almost indifferent to the forceful jet of water smashing against itself. It let out a tiny roar of defiance, though its voice was strained and… more metallic this time. Before anyone knew it, Poliwag began to shine bright silver, as his physical-self condensed into pure energy before expanding in size.

"Poliwag is evolving!" Violet whispered in surprise.

When the light had subsided, Poliwag was no more. Instead in his place, stood a much-larger tadpole, with a distinct pair of hands, and much longer, and stronger legs. His body had gained a lot more muscle, and the tail had contracted to the point of non-existence. The evolved tadpole stretched his arms as he let out a more metallic war cry.

"Poli—whirl!"

 **Poliwhirl, the tadpole pokémon. The surface of Poliwhirl's body is always wet and slick with a slimy fluid. Because of this slippery covering, it can easily slip and slide out of the clutches of any enemy in battle.**

"Awesome!" Ash cheered. "Give them hell, Poliwhirl!"

"Whirl-ill!"

"Use mud-shot, followed by water-gun!"

The large torrent of water that followed the mud-shot had been as large, if not larger than Vaporeon's attack. It smashed against the feline, sending it back a couple of feet.

"Al right, Poliwhirl, use bubble beam on Vaporeon!"

"Use ice-beam!"

The collision of the two long-ranged attacks had created a dense fog in the center of the battlefield. "Now Poliwhirl, get closer and use Double-slap!"

"Vaporeon, use aqua-tail!"

The two water-type raced towards each other, with Vaporeon being slightly slower, no thanks to the mud-shot attack. The aqua-tail slammed into Poliwhirl while Vaporeon was smashed into the ground by the repeated strikes of the double-slap attack.

"Vaporeon get up and use Aqua-tail again."

"Endure it."

"What?"

Ash smirked. "Now get closer and use Ice-ball!"

"What? Vaporeon use protect!"

It was too late, as the larger tadpole's fists, now powered by ice-ball, repeatedly slammed into Vaporeon, the mere momentum of the attacks banishing the pokémon towards the ground, as it slid on the ice.

"Now use water pulse!"

"Vaporeon!"

The powerful compressed ball of water smashed into the already disoriented Vaporeon, making it lose consciousness.

"Vapor-reon?" Violet choked in shock.

"Poliwhirl wins." Lily, who was referring this battle, replied in a no-nonsense tone. "Ash Ketchum is the winner!"

"I… lost?" Violet thought to herself.

"YOU DID IT!" cried an extremely familiar voice in the background, as Misty ran into the chamber, ignoring the looks of surprise on the gym leaders' faces and comprehension on Ash's. "I knew you'd be able to defeat them!" Misty threw a fist into the air.

"Misty? You know this boy?" Violet asked with apprehension.

"Yeah, so?" Misty defended, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So this is what you were doing all day yesterday!" Lily accused.

Misty glared, though given the reddish tinge her face had acquired, the glare had outlasted its usefulness by a significant amount.

"Wait, Misty, you- this is your family?" Ash asked, slightly flabbergasted.

"Of course," Lily scoffed. "She's the tiniest of us, the fourth Waterflower sister."

"The… _fourth…_ Waterflower sister?" Ash paused, as Misty's previous statements began to make more sense. "So… you're training to take over the gym leader's position?"

"Pfft!" Violet scoffed. "She still has long to go before that can even be possible."

"Take that back!" Misty retorted.

"I won't." Violet scoffed. "So what have you been doing with him, Misty? Showing your boyfriend all around town?"

Two things happened. One, Misty's face changed color so fast that Ash wondered if she had somehow learnt flamethrower. The other, Misty's high-pitched scream nearly shattered his eardrums.

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

"Of course, you'd say that." Lily taunted. "Why else would you try to help him win the battle? I dare say you're the one that helped teach some moves to that Poliwag."

"whirl-" came an indignant voice.

"Sorry, Poliwhirl!" Lily corrected.

"Poli."

"It was nothing like that, got it?" Misty snarled. "I was just getting tired of your-'oh I'm unbeatable' persona, and needed someone to snap that attitude out of you."

That shut everybody up.

"We…. Might have been a little…"

Misty let out a growl.

"I mean, quite a lot… confident about that," Violet finished.

"Yes, and nothing hits home better than getting beaten by a newbie. Did Ash mention that he's been on the journey for like a week now?"

"What? Just a week?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Well, its eight days now." Ash tried.

"Not important." Misty waved it away.

"Hmmm…." Violet stared at Ash, as if speculating him in a new light. "You can hardly tell."

"Obviously!" Misty waved it away. "See who's taught him about water pokémon!"

Ash raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. After everything the girl had done for him, she deserved to get away with a little shine.

"Anyway," Violet spoke up, walking towards Ash. She held his right hand up and dropped a shiny badge on his palm. This is the Cascade badge. It is a symbol that you have defeated us with your skill and your pokémon's power."

"… Thanks, I guess."

"Also," Violet continued, "you've demonstrated a lot of potential, Ash, and as gym leaders, and it is our duty to help you maximize that potential." She walked out of the room for a moment before returning back, with something in her hand. On closer look, there were two… _discs_ in her hand.

"This is for you, Ash." Violet handed the TM discs to him, as Ash stared at her in shock. "This TM is for _Ice-beam_ , a very powerful offensive move as you know. From what I remember, your bagon is a dragon-type. You can teach this move to him as well as your Poliwhirl."

Ash gratefully took the Ice-beam TM in his hand.

"The other one is for _Hydro Pump_ , and I certainly don't need to explain that, do I?" Violet smirked, handing a completely flummoxed Ash who wasn't sure if this was real or just a dream.

"I… thanks, I mean… this is… beyond my imaginations."

"Well," Violet mocked, "we are the Waterflowers. It is our job to be beyond imagination."

Every one chuckled at that.

"I wish you best of luck in your adventures, then, Ash." Lily returned with a smile. "it is unfortunate that Misty is busy learning to take over the duties of the gym leader, else we wouldn't have minded if she decided to travel with you." She paused, as an evil grin appeared on her face, "although I'm sure Misty can find a way to keep contact with her not-boyfriend."

"He's NOT my boyfriend." Misty screamed again.

"I _never said_ he was." Lily drawled.

"You…." The redhead growled.

"Anyway, Ash," Violet spoke. "It has been fun meeting you, and even more battling you. However, duty calls, and we cannot be late for our performances. Daisy can only manage alone for so long, so… this is goodbye," she sent another flying-kiss at a thoroughly embarrassed Ash who looked away, making sure _not_ to look at a certain redhead who was unable to decide to whether to be enraged or flustered.

* * *

As Ash and Misty walked out of the gym, Misty stopped on the pavement. "Hey Ash?"

"Yeah?" Ash answered, stopping and turning back to her.

"What are you going to do after you've gotten all the badges?"

"I…." Ash paused. "I don't know. I had kept Viridian as my last gym, so I guess I'll come back to Viridian for it."

"Viridian, then you'll have to pass through Cerulean." Misty stated as a fact. "Good, there's lots you need to learn about water pokémon, before you can qualify as a water-type trainer. Poliwhirl's abilities can only go so far.

Ash opened his mouth, then closed it. Then repeated the same thing twice.

"Of course, I'm an extremely busy person, and you might need to inform me before coming, so that I _might_ be able to get some free time to teach you a few tricks. You understand?"

Ash paused for a while, before he nodded. "I do."

"Good," Misty nodded, as if speaking more to herself than to him. "Also…" she walked up to him, and held his hand, before forcing something into it. "This is for Poliwag. Think of it as a consolation gift for him not getting a proper water master to train with."

Ash opened his palm and rolled the hard substance inside it. It was slightly oval, with a certain aquiline aura sparkling inside it.

"A… water stone?" He asked, his breath forgotten. This thing… it was a rare fortune.

"Poliwhirl might need it, if he wants to be strong and evolve. I didn't really have a King's Rock, and I personally ain't a fan of Politoed so…."

"Misty?" Ask interrupted her.

"Huh? What?" Misty asked, a little flustered.

"Thank you." Ash returned with a smile. "And once I'm done collecting seven badges, I will return, and I see you again."

Misty smiled. "I'll see you then."

* * *

 **YEP! I'm totally changing the characters and their behaviour, and the canon lore as shown in the anime. Please do not look at characters based on their canon versions. After all, this is fanfiction.**


	4. That which shines

The path to Vermillion city from Cerulean is a long and solitary one to take, especially if you are going on foot, considering that the only way is through the long and winding path down Route 24, a mountain road that winds all the way from Cerulean, past the Cerulean cave, and twists and turns through the Bavarian cliff, overlooking the sea, before it winds down to meet Commerce city, a major industrial belt in Kanto region. From there, it takes around a day and half by foot to cross the industrial belt to finally enter Vermillion.

However, there also lies a shortcut that could reduce the four-to-five day journey by two, which was exactly where Ash was currently heading. Past the third checkpoint on route 24, right before it winds up to the Bavarian cliff, there is a narrow lane, one that heads straight towards the sea shore, past a somewhat solitary lighthouse overlooking the sea. A little further south, a distance of approximately one mile, one could find a ferry junction, from where one could catch a steamship and travel directly to Vermillion, though because of the rarity of travellers along the route, only a single ferry sets sail from the point, and that, at exactly nine in the morning. Should one be able to catch it, one could reach Vermillion before dusk.

However, the weather conditions in and around route 24 didn't seem to bode good luck for Ash at the present moment, since a fierce storm had arisen because of weather-related anomaly, causing swift winds and hail to disturb all kinds of travel on Route 24. That, however, didn't seem to distract Ash Ketchum who seemed to be walking his way through the winding road, indifferent to the harsh weather conditions around him. Perched on his left shoulder, was Metang, his entire body glowing with a pale bluish sheen as the psychic/steel-type kept a psychic force-field enveloping itself and its trainer. While Ash had initially disagreed on the matter, he had to admit that maintaining a constant psychic field during harsh conditions without fail was good exercise, especially considering that Metang was insistent about honing his skills, something that had both surprised and exhilarated its trainer.

"Metang? Are you okay?" Ash asked, as he looked around at the empty road all around him. The storm had begun to take a turn for the worse, making it a little more difficult for the psychic-type, as the powerful gusts of wind slammed on its shields again and again.

Metang made an odd mechanical noise but made no motion of cancelling his defences.

"Al right, if you say so." Ash frowned, looking at the furious weather all around him. They had left Cerulean city the previous day, and now were only an hour away from reaching the third checkpoint. It was almost dusk, and if he managed to cover the distance before the day ended, he might be able to travel to the lighthouse by night, and get himself a place to somehow spend the night. Besides, it wasn't like he was all alone, considering that all of his pokémon were there with him, and in the peak of health.

"You know Metang, I've wondering how it would've been to have another person to travel with us." Ash mused loudly.

Metang sent a solitary glance at him.

"Like Misty, for one. I admit, she's kind of feisty and everything, but she did a lot for us."

That, Metang decided, he could agree with.

"Having someone travel with us would mean more people and pokémon around," Ash continued, "but then, it might also detain us everywhere, since our companions might have their own things to accomplish as well."

Metang made another groan.

"I know it is merely hypothetical, right now, but when we return back to Cerulean someday, maybe I-"

The thing in front of Ash drew his breath away. Right there, on the top of a single monolith, was something covered by a single Oran-berry leaf, was a tiny creature, smaller than his Bagon even, trying to hide beneath the large leaf, and whimpering in pain as a pair of Spearows were pecking on its body ruthlessly. The little creature was trying to ignore it all, as it tried to maintain the tiny flickering flame burning on its tail end, as it slept on the rock. Ash could only stare in shock as he took in the orange form of the fire-lizard, the one pokémon he had craved ever since he wanted to be a trainer, squeak and whimper as the predatory avians kept pecking over and over again on their helpless prey.

A… _Charmander._

"Metang, don't mind me. Use psychic on the Spearows!"

The steel pokémon instantly shed any and all shields around Ash, as the cold, wet wind slammed into him from all sides, as it sent a beam of psychic energy towards the hunting avians, slamming into their faces as the birds squawked angrily, at someone interfering between them and their hunt. Ash however, had other plans.

"Bagon, I choose you."

The baby dragon condensed and took form, and before he could comprehend what was happening, his trainer was ready with a command to attack. "Bagon, use dragon pulse on them!"

Being the dragon that he was, Bagon was always ready to blast things first and ask questions later. Pulling in his natural reserves of draconic energy, the baby dragon sent out a sphere of condensed power towards the avians, hitting them straight, and quite effectively, considering that the predators had chosen self-preservation over their hunt, and departed faster than possible under the weather.

"Charmander!" Ash began, as he tried to get the fire-lizard down from the rock, only to be slapped on his hand by a solid application of tail whip. Ignoring the bruising skin, Ash pulled his hands back. "Charmander, if you stay like this, you'll… you'll die."

The fire-lizard glared back heatedly before pulling the leaf around him once again. He coiled his tail closer in hope to save the flickering flame that looked like it would get extinguished any time soon.

Ash however, had enough. All his life he had desired a charmander as his own pokémon, and now he was being forced to watch as the little lizard succumbed to his own death, here all alone, in the storm. His mind made, Ash muttered in an emotionless tone. "Metang, use hypnosis on Charmander."

The steel-type was only too happy to obey, if it meant that the fire-lizard could be saved and it could return back to the protection of its psychic shields. In less than two seconds, Charmander's eyelids drooped as the creature, despite showing signs of protest, fell into an agonised, uncomfortable sleep.

Ash quickly moved in, recalling Bagon as he took the fire-lizard in his own arms, not for the first time, realizing how heavy the species were. "Metang, get the defences back on. We need to get charmander to the pokémon center quickly."

The steel pokémon uttered another mechanical groan as it manifested the psychic defenses back, enveloping both itself, its trainer and by extension, charmander. Even from its vantage point, it could see how the obviously-injured lizard made subtle movements to settle into a more comfortable position now that the fury of the storm was absent, and so was the fierce wind that had been lashing against its skin all this while.

"The nearest pokémon center is at the base of the cliff." Ash muttered to himself. "Which will mean-" He paused as he wistfully looked at his watch. "I suppose there isn't any point considering the alternative…" He glanced at the injured pokémon in his arms. "Let's get going!"

* * *

The solitary Pokémon center constructed at the base of the Bavarian cliff was one of the very few establishments in the entire region, as most of the population in and around lived on the top of the tableland above the steep cliff. With its visitors limited to travelling trainers who didn't have enough cash (or pokémon) to afford alternative routes and had decided to stick to walking along the solitary Route 24. As a result, there were only very minor medical equipment in here, knowing very well that any need for advanced medical aid would probably be needed for the ones located close to gyms. This fact had remained unbroken for the last seven years, until a somewhat scrawny kid with a comatose charmander had decided to show up in the middle of a dangerous storm.

Ash ran all the way for two miles, before he was finally able to dash into the barely adequate Pokémon center, literally slamming the doors of the establishment open, much to the irritation of the serving nurse, who was about to yell at the obnoxious, manner-less kid, before she noticed the tiny, breathing thing in his arms, as her words died in her throat.

"Chansey!" Nurse Joy called instantly, as a pair of Chansey instantly appeared before Ash, medical uniforms and all. Before the boy could even fathom whether the Chansey species were capable of _teleportation_ or not, the egg pokémon had lifted the comatose Charmander from his arms, put him onto the stretcher, and carried him away into the inner chambers past the lobby, leaving Ash at the door, his legs feeling weakened as he slowly slid down onto the floor.

Metang, who had just dropped his psychic defenses, and was resting, slowly dropped onto his left shoulder, and made an odd noise, nudging Ash on his cheek.

"I'm alright." Ash panted, as he slowly pulled himself up, and walked up to the front desk, looking at the somewhat apprehensive Nurse Joy standing in front of him.

"Why did you allow your Charmander to be hurt like that?" was the first question the pink-haired woman dropped on him with as much subtlety as a bull in a china-shop.

A part of Ash felt a breeze of happiness when the Nurse had mentioned _'your charmander'_ before reality set in. His face twisted into a half-sneer as he recalled the events that had transpired that evening.

"Charmander isn't mine, Nurse Joy." Ash declared. "I found him sitting on a rock, injured and being attacked by a pair of rogue Spearow."

"A likely story." The nurse returned coldly. "Do you really expect me to believe that you found… a _Charmander,_ sitting on a _rock,_ out in the open in the storm, a situation where his tail flame had every chance of getting extinguished? Especially since there haven't been any sightings of _wild Charmander_ in this area for years?"

Ash was now starting to get angry. "Look, why don't you make sure that Charmander gets his treatment first? You and I can argue over the truth later on."

Whatever the Nurse was planning to refute back, she decided to call it quits, as she considered his words. "Charmander is getting his treatment," she paused for a moment, "and that is my main priority. However," she cast a steely glare at him. "You and I ain't done yet. I've to go check up on his operation, and after I return, you are going to show me your identification. Make no mistake, if I find out that your story is merely a charade, then I will call in Officer Jenny, and have your trainer ID revoked. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." Ash deadpanned. "Now please go and attend Charmander."

Nurse Joy opened her mouth, then closed it, before shaking her head as she strode out furiously out of her cubicle, past the lobby into the operational chambers where the fire-lizard was being treated.

Meanwhile, Ash who had stepped back towards the front end of the lobby, and found himself a couple of empty seats, felt his body sag down as he slowly dozed off to a troubled sleep.

* * *

 **The next morning.**

"Ash Ketchum! Ash Ketchum, please report to the front desk!"

The familiar mechanical announcement, along with Metang's subtle pressing onto his shoulder woke Ash up from his uncomfortable sleep, as he forced his eyes open. Taking the environment in as the events of the past night came into focus, he jumped up (much to Metang's irritation), as he raced towards the front-desk, the somewhat sulking psychic/steel-type in tow.

"Nurse Joy, is Charmander all right?" was the first thing he uttered on seeing the nurse, who, given by her countenance, was probably up all night.

Muttering inaudibly about unruly kids, the pink-haired woman let out a small yawn, as she considered the raven-haired individual in front of her. "Charmander… is out of danger."

"Thank God." Ash sank, elated and relieved.

"We also needed to perform a psychic treatment for him, considering that he was…" her eyes narrowed, "under a hypnosis attack"—Ash looked remarkably shifty at that—"and his incessant objection to getting treated and… returning back to wherever he was waiting," she paused again, "for his trainer."

"For the last time," Ash retorted angrily, 'I'm not his trainer."

"Yes, that is the part we'll go through right now. I need your identification."

Without a single word, Ash pulled out his pokedex, and pushed it into Nurse Joy's palm, who looked somewhat surprised at what she was holding.

"A pokedex. Does that mean that you're-?"

"From Pallet town, and I've been given my pokedex, and my starter by Professor Oak. You can verify my claim if you want."

"You don't need to tell me how to do my job." The nurse snapped, before pulling the pokedex and inserting it into the slot specifically made for the purpose. Instantly, she was able to have complete access to his personal information, his trainer license records, his badges attained, his history of criminality (which was spotless much to her chagrin), and lastly, the pokémon registered to his trainer's profile.

"A Bagon," she paused, "a metang, seriously you have a rare collection here," she mused loudly, before going ahead with the rest, "a Pidgeotto, a rhyhorn, a Poliwhirl." Letting out a sigh, she turned towards Ash. "It seems you were telling the truth after all, Mr. Ketchum."

"I didn't know that, tell me more." Ash deadpanned.

"Don't try to be funny, Mr. Ketchum." The nurse retorted, though half-heartedly.

"Can you tell me what's wrong with Charmander?" Ash gushed. "I promise I just want to help."

Nurse Joy had an undecipherable expression on her face, which slightly softened. "As I said, Charmander is out of danger. We needed to remove the hypnosis attack on him, and I had to make a call to the Pokémon center of Cerulean city, to seek psychic aid. They have sent a Kadabra for that very purpose, and I can assure you Charmander's treatment is still going on."

"So who's Charmander's trainer?" Ash couldn't help but ask.

"I'm waiting for that as well. Apparently, Kadabra do not like interference," the Nurse replied darkly, "and in a few moments I should be receiving the diagnosis. That was another reason to call for you."

"Oh." Ash muttered.

Almost as if by premediated predicament, the bell from the Operation theatre rang with a soft ding, as the printer next to Nurse Joy began to beep angrily, pushing printed paper from within to the tray attached to it for that specific purpose.

"Here it is." Nurse Joy snatched the paper in haste, as she went through the contents, her eyebrows raised as she digested the results of the psychic treatment.

"What does it say?" Ash stressed, standing on his ankles.

"Wait a second, kid." The Nurse snapped. "I'm just… okay, apparently Charmander here belongs to a certain Damien Chester from Cerulean." She paused, looking up. "Do you, perchance, know this kid?"

"Never heard of him." Ash muttered.

"Charmander has been captured for around a month now." Nurse Joy muttered, as she checked in Damien Chester's profile on the league database. "Apparently, Charmander has been sitting on that… rock, you mentioned over the past three days."

Though not extremely vivid, but Ash could still make out the purple-haired individual with a lazy smirk on his face. For a moment, the guy looked way too similar to Paul, but Paul's features were different than this person.

"And what happened to Damien?"

The pink-haired woman pursed her lips. "The league database says that Damien Chester acquired his Thunder badge from Vermillion city yesterday." She paused, looking straight at Ash. "He deserted the Charmander, if that's what you're asking."

Ash felt his palm hurt, as his knuckles tightened, his nails digging into his palm. "He… deserted Charmander?"

"Seems so." The nurse replied, a little wary about the teen's emotional reaction at the news. "Are you… sure you do not know him?"

"No." Ash returned darkly, before looking up. "What's… going to happen to Charmander?"

"Pokémon safari by the looks of it." Nurse Joy answered in a monotone. "The one in Fuchsia city is the very best Kanto has to offer." She paused, taking in the teen's reaction. "Or… perhaps, _you_ would be interested to take him?"

Ash felt his heart stop. "… Me?"

"Yes," The nurse drawled. "You are a trainer, aren't you? And it seems you care enough to make sure the little lizard arrived here and survived. So… I cannot why I cannot transfer Charmander's ownership to you."

"But… but, what if this… Damien comes back? What if he wants to take Charmander back? What if Charmander doesn't-?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow. "From the current state of affairs, this Damien kid is going to receive a reprimand from the League, or from the next Pokémon center he visits. Additionally, he will never be able to put a claim on Charmander, since by deserting a pokémon, he has rescinded all rights to him anyway."

"But Charmander-?"

"I'm coming to that." The nurse snapped. "Charmander's own decision needs to be taken under consideration, since we do not want a… intractable and obstinate pokémon to a young trainer." She paused. "Charmander is awake at the moment. Should you wish to do so, you can visit Charmander and talk to him about whatever happened, and offer him the chance to join you, or the alternative placement that he'd be getting in case he decides against it."

Ash considered her words, and with a tinge of uncertainty in his mind, nodded.

* * *

The first thing that Charmander remembered was getting attacked by those ferocious birds as he tried to protect himself. However, his life-flame was dangerously low (it never had been the best for as long as he remembered), and with all the injuries he had sustained from fighting the beast of lightning (it still had hazy memories about that lightning-fast yellow beast, with black patches all over its body, and that maniacal grin on its face), it barely had the strength for a single flame-burst, not to mention the icy cold winds and the torrential downpour all around him.

Then, he remembered how Damien, his trainer had left him on the rock, promising to return back in a few hours, with treatment. He had waited for the entire day, climbing up to the top of the cliff despite the strain it put on his already injured body, if only to catch a glimpse of his trainer returning to him as promised. He had waited, and waited.

And waited.

Damien didn't come.

For three days he had waited, and slowly felt the life-flame burning inside him slowly flicker and come to the point of getting extinguished completely. That was when the unfortunate punishment from the heavens had come lashing at him in the form of the storm, punishing him for being a weakling like he was.

There had been a sneaking suspicion in his mind that Damien had also deserted him because of his weakness, but he hadn't allowed his barely held-on hope to flicker because of that dangerous thought. That was why, he had held on to the barely enough protection of the Oran-berry leaf, doing his best not to cry out in pain as those monsters pecked harshly on his injured skin.

It was then that he had heard the voice. "Use hypnosis on Charmander!"

Briefly, he had thought that it was his trainer who had come back, before a reminding thought flitted through his mind that Damien didn't have one of those all-knowing species. He had barely raised his head before his half-addled mind was sent reeling into unconsciousness.

"Charmander?"

The unfamiliar, male voice shook the fire-lizard from his reveries as he looked around for his trainer, only to find a barely recognizable human walk up to him. On seeing his face up close, Charmander remembered the hazy memory of the human who had asked his all-knowing pokémon to use hypnosis on him. Why was this human here? What did he want? Why couldn't he understand that Charmander was going to wait for his-?

"Charmander," the pink-haired human healer addressed him, "this is Ash Ketchum. He was the one who found you alone and injured, and brought you here." She paused. "Without his help, you would not have survived. Ash here," she pointed at the other human, "has been waiting since last night to see if you were alright."

The fire-lizard took everything up in stride, though that didn't stop his thoughts from being crushed. The human from last night, he wasn't Damien. Damien hadn't come, not yet. Charmander had been dying, and would've died waiting on that rock. The other human had taken the trouble, and saved his life. But why? Was he was a friend of Damien?

"How are you feeling, Charmander?" Ash asked, a little amount of hesitation leaking through his voice.

Charmander made an agreeable grunt in return.

"Charmander, "Nurse Joy spoke up again. "It has been brought to my attention, that Damien Chester, your trainer, deserted you four days ago, on route 24."

Charmander growled in protest. Damien hadn't deserted him, he had just gone to seek medical aid for him. He wasn't, he wasn't going to just desert him like that.

Right…?

"To my knowledge, Damien didn't return to route 24," Nurse Joy went on, her sharp eyes not moving from Charmander's countenance, "and he won the gym badge from Vermillion, before leaving for Chrysanthemum Island. That was yesterday."

Charmander felt his legs give away, as the undeniable, harsh truth hit him. Damien wouldn't come back. He wasn't intending to come back. He had…

Deserted him.

Charmander made a long, single howl, letting out all his anger, his helplessness, his feeling of betrayal and his resignation to his fate.

"As of now, you are officially free, and not registered to Damien any more. He, is not your trainer any longer."

Charmander looked down. His trainer had deserted him, thrown him out because he was weak, just like the numerous other Charmander and dragons had looked down at him back there in that… that place.

"Charmander, I have made communication with the Fuchsia Pokémon Safari, and should you be agreeable, I will transport you there. It is a natural environment where you will be able to live among other pokémon." Nurse Joy paused for a moment, "however, Ash here has an alternative proposal for you, should you be agreeable."

That perked the fire-lizard's attention. What did this trainer want from a weakling like him?

"Charmander," Ash took a hesitant step forward. "I'm also… a trainer, and I want to become a pokémon master. I've… always wanted to have a charmander as my starter pokémon, although I have…." He paused as he plucked a pokeball and released Bagon, who let out a grunt in surprise at seeing the fellow fire-lizard in front of him. "This is Bagon, and he is my starter, and he is just as special as you are." Ash smiled. "Should you agree to it, I wish to have you as my pokémon and my friend, and become a part of my journey. I can promise I'll do my best to make you the most powerful Charizard in history, should you be agreeable to it."

Charmander sighed. It was true that like every other of his species, he too desired to evolve into the mighty draconic form that was Charizard. However, this trainer had no idea about how weak he was, or he wouldn't have made that offer.

"I also think that you are a very dedicated pokémon, with great inner strength." Ash continued. "I'd like you… to be a part of my team."

The fire-lizard looked up, his eyes flashing with a tiny bit of hope as he faced the tiny baby dragon with accusing eyes, as if daring him to agree with what his trainer had just said. Much to his irritation (and happiness), the baby dragon seemed to reiterate how his trainer was very dedicated (and slightly addled in the head), but did care a lot about him and his other fellow pack-mates. Bagon also talked about a certain know-it-all one who hovered all day around Ash, much to Bagon's irritation, and that Bagon hoped that together, he and Charmander could possibly put the all-knowing one down a notch or two.

"So Charmander, what do you think?" Ash asked uncertainly, although the hope in his eyes shone more brightly than ever.

* * *

 **Charmander. The lizard pokémon. The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely.**

Ash stood in front of Charmander, surveying him using the Pokedex, little aware of the fact that the little fire-lizard was glaring at the mechanical device with apprehension. Dexter however, continued to rattle about its deductions.

 **This Charmander is male. Current Move set: Dragon claw, Dragon breath, dragon pulse, tail whip and Ember.**

Dexter paused for a moment, before continuing. **Odd specimen. Needs to be reported. Checking for newer cross-breeds. Match not found. Error. Error. Body size mismatched. Inner-flame less than optimum. Genetic typing: Dragon/ Fire. Please report to authorities.**

 _The… Hell?_

Charmander meanwhile, was outright glaring at the mechanical device which was consistently calling it out as an oddity. Ever since its birth at… that place, he had lived amongst other charmanders, and in order to mix in with others, he had forced himself to limit his natural offenses to ember, and the highly ineffective flame burst that he managed to pull off at times. However, with the mechanical device mocking him as unnatural, all sense of subtlety and control went out of the window and-

"CHAAAAR!"

A pale yellow burst of light erupted from Charmander's mouth, projected towards the obnoxious device in his trainer's hands. His trainer only barely managed to jump to the sides and avoid the freshly overpowered burst of _Dragon breath_ that the little lizard had sent towards him.

"Hey, what's wrong, Charmander?" Ash yelled.

That stopped Charmander short, as the results of his actions hit him. He had just, in his rage at the obnoxious device, thrown out, what was potentially his most fatal attack towards his unsuspecting trainer. It seemed that he didn't deserve getting a trainer after all, since it was sure that Ash would now report him and send him away to the Reserves.

"Charmander?" Ash repeated again, this time in a soft voice. "That was dragon breath, wasn't it?"

The unexpected curious comment shook Charmander off his reveries. Did his trainer still want to keep him, if merely out of curiosity?

"Charmander?" Ash asked, kneeling in front of the fire-lizard. "Did you want to hurt me with that attack?"

Charmander shook his head vigorously. By the gods, he was just about to lose his trainer all over again.

"Did you… attack my pokedex?"

Charmander looked a little shifty, before nodding with a grunt.

"Why?"

Charmander didn't say anything, just continued to glare at the nasty little thing in his trainer's hand.

"This device," Ash brought the infernal thing closer, "is called a pokedex. It gives me information about…" Ash stopped short, before comprehension dawned on him. He regarded the little lizard closely. "Charmander…. I want you to answer honestly, and please keep in mind that under no conditions, am I going to desert you like Damien. Is that okay?"

After several seconds of hesitation, Charmander gave a nod.

"You can use all those…." Ash paused, gathering his thoughts, "draconic attacks without any trouble at all. I saw it. That was a full-powered dragon breath."

Charmander hesitated for a while, before nodded his orange head.

"Can you… show me an Ember attack?"

Charmander gave him a look of resignation, before gathering some of his inner-flames and threw out what was possibly, the weakest ember-attack Ash had ever seen. It was worse than Bagon's own first attempt.

"Any other fire-type moves that you can do?"

Charmander had lost all hopes now. Surely his trainer had now known how hopeless a Charmander he was. With a barely concealed snarl directed towards his own weakness, he let out a fire burst, though what came out was at most, a slightly better version of his Ember attack.

Ash knew for a fact that Bagon could ignore that fire burst while sleeping.

"Hmmm." Ash stood up, taking a few steps back. Pointing towards a random rock on the ground, he commanded, "Now use dragon pulse on this rock."

Charmander gave a surprised grunt.

"Any problems, Charmander?"

Charmander shook his head in surprise. With little effort, he pulled a little of his inner draconic strength to unleash a dragon pulse towards the rock. The compressed sphere of draconic energy smashed into the monolith, literally annihilating it instantly.

"Well done!" Ash crowed, clapping his hands as the fire-lizard gaped in disbelief. Surely his trainer wasn't congratulating him?

"Tell me Charmander," Ash came closer, "did you ever use draconic attacks for Damien?"

Shake.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Damien told you not to use them?"

Another shake.

"Damien knew about your draconic moves?"

Another shake.

"Damien ordered you to use fire-based attacks?"

Nod.

"This is… messing up with my mind." Ash sat down onto the ground, beside the fire-lizard, who looked at his trainer with a mix of curiosity and respect. "Charmander, I don't understand…" He spoke gently. "How is it that you can perform draconic attacks like a dragon does, and yet are unable to do a fire-type attack at all?"

Charmander looked away.

"I'm not looking down on you, buddy." Ash consoled, "just trying to understand you, that's all. I mean, you've to understand… You are a little… on the smaller side, and despite being a Charmander, your move sets speak otherwise. It's a mystery which my mind cannot comprehend."

The trainer and his Charmander looked far ahead towards the solitary road in front of them. After the fire-lizard had agreed to join Ash, the trainer had decided to get some training done, and get to know the lizard better, before starting out for the ferry junction. As it was, the ferry had already left for the day, and wouldn't be back before the next day morning. Travelling all day in the hot sun would mean nothing since they would have to spend the night by the sea shore either way.

Ash had brought out all of his pokémon before him. Rhyhorn, Pidgeotto, metang, Poliwhirl and Bagon, all of whom had their own varied reactions towards the newest addition to their odd group. Metang, just as always, had barely demonstrated any interest in the fire-type, while Poliwhirl, in true Poliwag-spirit, had sent a jet of water at Charmander's face, much to the little lizard's irritation. Pidgeotto had been rather… welcoming, a trait of her developing feminine nature, Ash mused, while Bagon…. Bagon had been the most talkative of the entire batch. Finding a pseudo-draconic species as a co-traveller had overjoyed the little baby dragon, who seemed just one step away from holding hands with the shit-scared fire-lizard and dancing into the night. Rhyhorn… rhyhorn had just grunted and that was all that needed to be said.

"I understand that you are not like any other Charmander…." Ash began, as the fire-lizard began to assume the worst, "—but that doesn't matter. After all, you are special. Now, I don't know why you did not, in fact, demonstrate your abilities to Damien…"- something that made Charmander ponder- "but I can tell you right now, that you have no need to hold back on anything, and I promise, I will find a way so that you are able to utilize the fire-type attacks just as strongly as well."

Charmander felt his heart stop for a moment, as he registered his trainer's words. His eyes shining bright with hope, the little, orange fire-lizard jumped to its new trainer's lap with an exuberant grunt of joy.

* * *

After spending most of the morning in the grassy region around the Pokémon center, and refilling some of his rations, Ash and company were ready to travel back to the Lighthouse. Nurse Joy had made sure to provide Ash with Charmander's treatment reports (available to trainers upon request), as well as gotten Charmander some nutritious Oran-berries as well.

"So Ash," The nurse asked genially, "where are you headed next? Vermillion?"

"Nah," Ash denied. "I was hoping to catch the ferry next morning."

"The ferry?" Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow." That's a… odd choice. In that case, you might as well spend the night here. I can have Kadabra teleport you to the Lighthouse early morning tomorrow."

Ash had to agree, it was a rather tempting offer. But he had hoped to travel to the sea shore, and spend some time there. Who knew, maybe he could catch some rare sea pokémon? "Actually, I kind of wanted to visit the area and spend some time there, and see if I could catch some pokémon."

The nurse looked at him in surprise at his answer. "In that case… I might have something that would suit you."

* * *

 **Sometime later.**

"I swear psychic teleportation is never going to be one of my top-favourites for travelling." Ash swore. He had just spent the last fifteen minutes throwing up, after the rather jarring experience of psychic teleportation offered by the Kadabra which was apparently, going to stay at the Center for quite a while.

Looking around, he sighted the solitary lighthouse on the rocky terrain just overlooking the sea. He himself, was standing amidst a sea of granite and sandstone which seemed to stretch for another half a mile before mixing into the sea. The lighthouse in question, was huge, (though it was his first time seeing one), and wondered if things would work out exactly the way Nurse Joy had told him.

He took the pokeballs from his belt, and released every single one of his pokémon, and was greeted by the cacophony of sounds from his friends.

"Hey guys, this is the sea!" He pointed out towards the vast expanse of water at a distance, watching the waters move up and down with the tide. "However, we'll need to go visit the lighthouse first. Apparently, there is a researcher who lives there, and can give us some… aid in helping Charmander get over his problems."

Charmander let out an embarrassed grunt, before Pidgeotto gave him a tiny bump on the head with her wing, admonishing him. Bagon too, uttered some words of encouragement.

 _ **There's a researcher living there at the lighthouse by the name Bill. I'll inform him about your arrival. I am hopeful he'd be able to get you answers to Charmander's… condition.**_

Just as Nurse Joy had stated, Kadabra had dropped a little distance off the lighthouse to gather himself and his thoughts. Ash mused, looking at the rocky terrain overlooking the expansive water body, as he took a step in the direction of the only edifice on the land. The building had several layers of walls built around itself, leading to the door. On the walls, Ash could see, were engravings of fully evolved pokémon. "Look here Charmander," Ash muttered, pointing towards the stone engraving of a rather ferocious-looking Charizard. "Someday you'll just like this."

The fire-lizard gave an appreciative grunt of agreement.

"And here's yours… Pidgeotto!" He pointed towards the engraving of a large and beautiful Pidgeot, ready to take down towards the land from the air.

"And here's yours… metang." He pointed towards the metagross engraving to the right. "I suppose there might be more, but let's go ahead and meet the person we're supposed to be here for."

He crossed the threshold, before reaching up to the large front door, as he pressed the doorbell. There was no sign of acknowledgement apart from the creepy creaking as the giant doors slid open on their own, revealing their electronic functions, creating quite a juxtaposition compared to the more… primitive exterior. Ash instantly recalled all of his pokémon save Metang who had swiftly levitated up in the air to float right at his shoulder. Making sure that he wasn't forgetting anything, he took a single step into the dimly lit, humongous hall.

The insides of the lighthouse were more akin to the interior of the gym, only much more sophisticated and advanced. On second thought, even Professor Oak's lab was remarkably… plebeian compared to the one he was standing in, and this was just the entrance.

"Come on in." A rather orotund voice boomed from the balcony on the first floor, overlooking the hall. "You must be Ask Ketchum, am I correct?"

"Uh… yeah, I am." Ash answered.

The moment the words had left his mouth, he felt several rays of light scan his person, as his pokedex beeped rather loudly, before the lights went down.

"Surveillance equipment," the man, whom Ash presumed was the researcher, smiled down at him. The man looked barely in his late twenties, though the white lab coat gave it away. "I was checking if you were telling the truth."

"Why wouldn't I?" Ash questioned.

The researcher just gave him a wry grin. "Nevertheless, I am Bill Montgomery. Pleased to meet you, Ash Ketchum."

"Bill… Montgomery" Ash repeated, the name feeling slightly familiar at the back of his mind though he couldn't place exactly _where_ he had heard about it. "I am Ash Ketchum, from Pallet town. Professor Oak registered me as a trainer."

"Ah, Oak. Great man that one, you'd think that he had already done enough as part of the Elite four." Bill mused with a chuckle, as he walked down the stairs towards Ash.

"Professor Oak was part of the Elite Four?" Ash felt his lungs go dry.

"You didn't know?" Bill raised an eyebrow. "Surely you do not expect a pokémon professor to have that many pseudo-legendaries on his team, do you? Oak and his Dragonite were precursors to what Lance is today."

It was a humbling sensation. He had grown up beside an Elite trainer all his life. Ash had always known that Oak was a genius, but to know that he was an Elite as well, was… mind-boggling.

"Anyway, come on in. Let me show you around this place, before we can talk about your reason for coming to meet this recluse." Bill chuckled. "I must admit I get to entertain less strangers in a year than I get to meet a legendary in person."

"Ah, well, I was actually hoping if I could call the professor from a PC." Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Bill, it seemed, did not mind. "Sure, go ahead." He pointed towards the sole PC terminal on the right end of the wall. "I'll be in the next chamber. Come and get me when you are done."

"Uh… sure, thanks."

"No worries." Saying so, the affable researcher sped away towards the room on the right, just past the PC console.

"Right!" Ash fixated his mind. "Let's get it going."

Moving ahead, ash dialled Oak's contact number from the PC, and in a couple of seconds, was pleased to hear the familiar ringing sound. After a tiny flash of light on the screen, he could see Professor Oak on the other side, trying to wipe something away from what seemed to be large pincers that belonged to a… Crabby?

"Hey Ash!" the old man wished. "Good to see you after this while. How's it going?"

Ash grinned. "I'm great, Professor. I already got myself two badges and I'm headed towards Vermillion city now."

"Is that so?" Oak questioned. "That's nice. Are you on Route 24 then?"

"No, I'm talking from the Lighthouse of a researcher named Bill Montgomery."

That stopped Oak short. "Bill Montgomery? What are you doing at Bill's place?"

"Uh… I kind of, ran into an issue, professor." Ash explained shiftily. "The Nurse Joy at the cliff recommended that I talk to him."

"And you didn't think of contacting me first?" Oak challenged. "I'm saddened at your lack of confidence in me."

Ash rolled his eyes at seeing the old man pout, especially in the light of the knowledge of the man's achievements. "Nothing like that, professor. Nurse Joy recommended it and I just went with the flow."

Oak chortled. "Think nothing of it. Bill is too, a researcher of extraordinary calibre. I'm sure he'll be able to handle whatever it is. Speaking of which, how many pokémon did you catch so far?"

"Uh… six." Ash answered, not sure what to expect. Paul's rather odd reply had thrown some of his conceptions into a dizzy, and he wasn't sure anymore.

"And what are they?"

"Uh… I got myself a poliwag, he's a Poliwhirl now. And I captured a… Metang, and a Pidgeotto, and he's shiny."

"A metang?" Oak looked surprised. "My, my, that's a rare thing. And a _shiny_ Pidgeotto? Some people have all the luck in the world."

Ash chortled at that, much to the old man's chagrin.

"Bill will want to meet your shiny pokémon. I myself can't wait for you to send the Pidgeotto to me."

"Uh… sure, professor. I also got myself a rhyhorn, and a charmander."

That got the man's attention. "You caught a wild charmander?"

"Uh, not really, but there's a long story behind it. Do you mind if I talk about it later?"

Oak considered it for a moment. "Sure, but I want to hear all about it."

"Of course, professor."

"Good, and for the record, Gary has already gotten four badges and caught forty-five pokémon."

Ash's jaw dropped. _Four badges already? And forty five pokémon? What… has he been throwing those balls at everything that-?_

Ash stopped himself from completing that dangerous thought, which had strayed in a direction he didn't want. Maybe Paul had left a more significant effect on him than he had thought.

"Ash?" Oak asked, a little surprised at the boy's sudden change of facial expression.

"It's nothing, professor, just got me thinking. I'll defeat your grandson anyway, more pokémon or not."

"Sure." The old man drawled. Poking fun at Ash never stopped being funny. After all, he had all the best reactions to it.

"Bye professor, talk to you later. Give my love to Mom."

"Sure. See you." With that, the signal got disconnected.

"Are you done?" came a voice from the right. It was Bill. "I'm sorry I got bored with waiting."

Ash looked slightly off-guard at that, but he controlled his reactions. "No, it's… it is okay. I was just finishing up anyway."

"Great." The researcher chirped. "Let's see what unique problem you've brought for me to solve."

"Uh… sure."

* * *

"This…" Bill declared, "-is nothing short of extraordinary, Ash." The researcher looked up from his microscope. "Charmander's genetic sample is… fascinating. It is almost like I'm seeing the genetic samples of a Garchomp in a fashion."

"Garchomp?" Ash asked.

"A Sinnoh-native. It is the apex dragon species in that land. The Sinnoh Champion Cynthia has one, and Arceus knows that specimen is nothing short of a legendary."

Ash opened his mouth in awe.

"However, it seems like someone had been experimenting on artificial dragon breeding, and has produced somewhat successful results. Your charmander himself, is an example of that."

"You mean to say that Charmander was born in a lab, by artificial breeding?"

"I'm sure of it." Bill frowned. "There is only one thing that confuses me, which is the other peculiar symptoms that your little friend is showing. His inner-flame is notoriously low for both species, and his _monster_ gene, which he has acquired from the Charizard side of his parents, is… dormant, for lack of a better word."

"Inner-flame? Monster gene? What does that mean?"

Bill looked up. "Sorry, I'm not really used to talking in layman terms." He looked embarrassed. "Let's put it this way. Fire-type pokémon have something known as an _inner-flame_ inside them, a form of spiritual fire that is, in layman terms, their connection to fire, so to say. Different fire-types demonstrates various forms of _materializing_ their inner-flame on their physical self. For Charmander, it is the flame on his tail. For the Typhlosion line in Johto, it is the flame on their back. For say… a Ponyta, it is very much the same. There exist some fire-types, like Growlithe for instance, who do not necessarily display an outer materialization of their inner-flame, but that is beside the point."

"Okay." Ash nodded, doing his best to keep up.

"The only other type that has an inner-flame is the dragon-type, because well, their affinity to fire-type, in addition to water, electric and normal-types. Because of that, a dragon too has a form of _inner-flame,_ though it only represents the fire-part of its physiology, and is, as is clear, much less than say… a pure-fire type like the Arcanine-line or the Charizard-line."

Ash nodded his head again. "Because fire-types are completely creatures of fire, their _inner-flame_ is greater compared to dragons who are only _part-fire."_

"Exactly." Bill agreed with an earnest clap. "However, your Charmander has… well, an inner-flame _even smaller_ than an average Garchomp."

 _Crap._

"-which means, that his affinity to fire is weak at best, while his… draconic genetics are much more pronounced." Bill paused, "you can also say that your Charmander is a Garchomp in the body of a Charmander in a way."

"….." Ash thought.

"…" Ash said.

Bill chortled at the teen's reaction. "What I mean is, your Charmander's proclivity towards draconic attacks will be superior to most of its species, and in the same way, and his affinity towards flame-type attacks would be inferior to most fire-types."

" _Would be?"_ Ash caught on.

"And people say that it is too early to start recruiting." Bill muttered, looking at the bright young teen in front of him. "Caught that, didn't you? Here, my friend, is what is _extraordinary_ about your Charmander."

"And what's that?" Ash asked, perplexed.

"His genetic constitution is… bizarre, and not permanent, at least not in certain aspects. While his genetic growth as a Charmander can be pretty-well projected and conceptualized, I cannot say _exactly_ what _evolution_ might do to his DNA."

"I don't understand." Ash confessed.

Bill showed signs of irritation but controlled it. Whoever said that being a teacher was an easy job anyway? "See, the Charizard line has two particular attributes in their constitution, _only one_ of which can exist in a particular specimen. These two attributes are known as the _dragon_ and _monster_ respectively. Charmander with the dragon attribute demonstrate an affinity towards draconic attacks, _not the level of affinity your Charmander shows but close enough._ Those with Monster attribute in them become taller, stronger, and larger in size, reaching a height of around ten feet."

"That's twice the size of the average Charizard." Ash exclaimed.

"That's the Monster attribute for you." Bill advised. "However, such specimens only hold true as _fire/flying types,_ and have extreme low affinity for draconic attacks, if at all. In other words, a growlithe would snort at their dragon rage attack, but their _inferno,_ or worse, _blast burn_ would take down a Steelix in a single blow."

"…. Damn!"

Bill smirked. "You Charmander, however, because of his unique genetic constitution, has the _active_ dragon attribute from the Garchomp parent, and thus, his affinity with draconic attacks is as good as the Garchomp-line, which is, let me say, beyond amazing. There is a reason after all, why even the first-generation Gible, is able to perform a _Draco-meteor attack,_ which even adult Charizards with active dragon attribute fail to accomplish at times."

Ash stupidly nodded.

"The interesting thing here, is that Charmander has received the Monster attribute from its Charizard parent."

"But then shouldn't it be larger and stronger than others?" Ash asked, confused again.

Theoretically, it should. However, for… reasons I cannot fully comprehend at this moment, the Monster attribute is somewhat… dormant at this moment. Because Charmander here has a notoriously low _inner-flame,_ and… from what the psychic treatment has unveiled- has always tried to use fire-type attacks, thus overusing his limited inner-flame, it has taken a toll on his physical form, and thus, is responsible for his frail nature and smaller body size."

"So you are telling me that if Charmander focusses on his draconic attacks instead of fire-type ones, his body will slowly show signs of growth?" Ash surmised.

"I'm sure of it." Bill answered with a grin. "This… sample, this is extraordinary, though forbidden, and with due reason. Charmander is very lucky that he was born with this… bizarre genetic combinations, and not, let's say… a complete runt useless at either thing."

Ash swallowed. "You were talking about evolution or something?"

Bill snorted at Ash's way of reference. "Yes, that. Because Charmander's genetic makeup is so… distorted at present, there is every possibility that an _evolution_ might set things straight, and reactivate the Monster gene in him, as a Charmeleon. If things turn out right, he'll be one mammoth of a Charmeleon with super affinity to draconic attacks, though… as unfortunate as it is, his affinity to fire-type will remain low for the foreseeable future."

"It doesn't matter." Ash proclaimed.

Bill raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't concern you that your fire-type is not an optimal specimen of his species? Surely you should get yourself a better Charmander who has everything normal in his make-up."

"Nah, I'll stick with mine." Ash declared proudly, his fingers subconsciously caressing the pokeballs on his belt. "Charmander and I are in for the long run, as are my other pokémon."

Bill's spectacles flashed. "Interesting. So, do I get to meet them?"

"Sure." Ash answered, before releasing all of his pokémon.

In hindsight, he should have considered the thought before releasing all of them because of the shriek of surprise that reverberated throughout the lighthouse was certainly not good for his physical health.

"A SHINY PIDGEOTTO!"

* * *

 **Sometime later…**

"Ash, I don't know how exactly this is going to sound to you, but you and I are going to be best of friends." The overexcited researcher practically purred, as he bent close to towards Pidgeotto to pluck out a couple of her shiny golden feathers.

Pidgeotto ignored the slight discomfort at having the creepy man draw so close to her, though considering that her trainer had specifically asked her to go through it, she didn't mind that much. Ignoring the slight prick she had felt on her skin as the creepy man plucked out three of her golden feathers, two from either wing and one from her plume, she had instantly shot towards her pokeball and pushed herself in, not wanting to be in the creepy man's presence for another moment.

"I didn't think she liked it all that much, Mr. Montgomery." Ash answered, slightly discomforted by the man's request.

"Do not worry, Ash. You have aided me in research more than you can possibly imagine. Charmander's DNA for me is like Christmas coming early. The feathers of a shiny Pidgeotto only… only…" The man gushed in excitement.

Ash cleared his throat.

"… Right," Bill controlled his expressions. "As I was saying, I'll make up for it. Tell me Ash, would you like me to gift you with pokémon? I do have some which I captured for the sake of studying them. There are… ordinary ones though."

"Nah, there's no need of that, Mr. Montgomery."

"Bill, please." Bill returned. "But there must be something. I _am_ Bill Montgomery after all."

Ash crooked an eye, wondering that meant. "Well," he confessed, "the only thing that I truly need is… well, one is to buy TM for my pokémon, and the other… well, I'd be glad if you could get me a way to increase my roster."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Huh?"

Bill cleared his throat, returning to his researcher persona, instead of the hyper-active man-child. "What I mean is, why would you want to increase your roster? You can keep six pokémon with you, you know that, right?"

"Yes, I know, but that isn't enough. I've already caught six pokémon, and the next one that I catch will automatically vanish to Professor Oak's lab, and stay there until I get to a pokémon center and exchange it for someone I have with me. Either way, it means that my pokémon will, at best, have fragments of my journey, since their experiences will be limited by _my own need_ for having them with me, and not because they are my pokémon."

Bill stood silent for some moments, before he muttered. "I must admit… I never really thought about it that way." Then, he let out a chuckle. "Funny, we are pokémon researchers, and yet, we fail to grasp such a simple little concept. Trainers exchange pokémon because of _their own need,_ and not because of the pokémon's wishes. That's one serious oversight I'd never noticed." He looked up at the teen. "Tell me Ash, have you ever consider pokémon research as a career?"

"Uh… no not really. I just want to…" he paused for a moment, "I have always _wanted_ to be a pokémon master."

Bill was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice the subtle wording behind Ash's answer. "A pity. You'd have made a fine one. However, "he glanced back with a bright smile. "Your presence has been greatly beneficial for me, and I'll try to give back in kind. So consider your problems solved."

"…." Ash responded.

Bill chortled. "You really don't know who I am, do you?"

"Uh… a researcher?" Ash ventured.

Bill lifted his head over and laughed hard. "Oh… oh my, to think that I'd ever have the chance of talking like a normal person and not realize it…." He laughed some more.

"What's so funny?" Ash scowled, somehow feeling that the joke was on him.

"Ash Ketchum, tell me, have you, perchance, heard of Silph Co.?"

"Hah!" Ash retorted. "Who hasn't? They are the premier organization in pokeball and TM development, and one of the largest in the world." He paused. "What about them?"

"And do you know who the chairman is?"

"Yeah, he's Robert…." Ash's eyes widened, "—Montgomery."

"Full marks!" Bill smirked.

"You are…. Bill… Montgomery!"

"I believe so." Bill was grinning from ear to ear.

"I am talking to Bill Montgomery. You are the… mind behind the 2nd gen TM?"

"My greatest work, I believe, so far."

"This is… is blowing my mind."

"I appreciate that."

Ash looked ready to faint.

"Anyway," Bill continued, his grin still on full throttle, "it is my duty to make sure that I try to solve your problems, considering how much you have, unknowingly or not, and aided me."

"…."

"As you might know, the roster for an Ace trainer is twenty at maximum, and these regulations are maintained by Silph Co. In essence, we at Silph Co. simply elevate the roster as per the League recommendations. That also means, that _just like that,_ your roster can now accommodate as many as twenty pokémon, though I'd still advise you to continuously keep your pokémon on rotation to and fro to Oak, so that he might be able to perform physical, psychic and psychological check-ups on them."

"Oh." Ash had to admit, he had not considered that bit. So, now he could hold upto twenty pokémon…

Wait.

Twenty pokémon.

His problem with the limited roster, all of that just… vanished?

 _Just like that?_

"You aren't joking, right?" Ash questioned, hoping it wasn't so.

"I'm bloody serious." Bill grinned. He inputted some keys into the mainframe, before connecting Ash's pokedex with it. The pokedex blinked as its configuration was visibly changed, increasing his roster to twenty, with himself registered as a trainer with _private connection_ to Silph Co.

"Done!" Bill declared. "As for the other?"

He typed some more keys into his mainframe, as a thin debit card shot out from one of the devices. Bill reached out for it, and handed the little card to a dazzled Ash, who just held it in awe. There in his hand, was a Crypto Card authorized by Silph Co.

"You can use that card to buy a maximum of five TM's a month. If you waste it all out on a single day, you'll have to wait for the next month for the stipend to return. As of now, your status shows you as a freelance researcher for Silph Co. under direct authority of Bill Montgomery, which allows you a miniature stipend of five TM's every single month. It's pretty less than what I could afford, but we don't want you to get yourself a big head, do we?"

Ash was too befuddled to answer that.

"So," Bill replied with elation. "Now that I've solved your immediate problem, would you, my freelance associate, help me in a certain research of mine?"

Had Bill asked him to jump from the roof of the lighthouse into the sea right then, Ash would've done that without question. That man had just taken the world of his troubles and banished them away in the blink of an eye.

"Anything… anything."

Bill's lips curled. "Very well, let me start by telling you why _exactly_ I'm so excited by _shiny_ pokémon."

* * *

"Let me get this straight." Ash surmised. "You mean to say, that if a pokémon specimen is able to, by completely _natural means,_ be born with a genetic pool superior to his own species-"

"Significantly superior." Bill stressed.

"Right, significantly superior to its own species, then such a… successful positive… what was it?"

"Mutation."

"Right, a successful positive mutation-"

"Natural mutation."

"Please stop interrupting." Ash scowled. "So, such a successful, positive, natural mutation will often show its presence by altering the skin color of the pokémon specimen?"

"Yes."

"And such pokémon are called _shiny?"_

"Correct." Bill elucidated. "For instance, your Pidgeotto, must have certain… traits that put it beyond others of its species. Can you remember something different and unusual about her?"

"Uh… when I battled her for the first time, she used double-team on my poliwag. I was surprised that a wild Pidgeotto knew something like that."

"Surprising indeed." Bill frowned.

"That, and he also knows Pursuit, though it is an egg move."

"Hmmm…" Bill frowned. "A normal flying-type like Pidgeotto had a dark-type as a parent, and was born with a shiny nature." He looked up gleefully. "I've half a mind to stop my research and travel with you, since you seem to have better luck than I have at finding such rare specimens."

"I might just have used up all my luck to get them... You know." Ash deadpanned.

"Now you're just playing dirty."

Ash chortled, much to the man's chagrin.

Bill scowled. "If you're done laughing at my predicament, I'd like to continue my explanation."

"Right, sorry."

Bill scoffed, but continued without delay. "As I was saying, _shiny_ pokémon exhibit several traits that are… in a fashion, too fantastic for the rest of its… non-shiny species to have, at least without TM's anyway." He smirked proudly before continuing. "And one of such… successful mutations is the mythical _King's nature."_

"King's nature?"

"King's nature." Bill repeated. "Think of it like Charizard's Monster gene, only doubled, if not tripled in its action. "A _Monster_ Charizard would be around ten feet tall, but a _King_ Charizard would probably top over twenty-five feet."

"That's-"

"Undeniably awesome and unbelievably fantastic, I know." Bill grinned, "And part of my research here, deals with the _myth of the Seven Kings_."

"The myth of the Seven kings?"

"Yes." Bill answered, his eyes burning with excitement and passion. "Eons ago, there were seven dragon kings who ruled the region that is today comprised of Kanto and Johto regions. A Charizard, a Gyarados, a Garchomp, a Haxorus, a Kingdra, a Salamence, and a Dragonite."

Ash wondered about how a Garchomp, Haxorus or Kingdra would look like but kept silent.

"None of them were legendary, and yet, the blood of the elder dragons flowed through them more fluidly than any other of their kind on the planet. Despite… being, normal, compared to the legendary beasts of the universe, together the seven kings were an unstoppable force of nature. There is a reference to a certain mystical... catastrophe caused by a certain… _darkness_ , the legends are quite… vague about that bit- anyway, and this cataclysmic dark power was too power to stop, even for legendaries themselves. The seven dragons, it is said, fought this… thing and stopped the cataclysm from happening, though not without losses."

"And?" Ash was hanging on to his every word.

"Out of the seven kings, one fell to the distortion world, never rising up again. One got sunk beneath an active volcano, the third distributed his ashes across a plain. The fourth's tomb is guarded by fire, the fifth died braver than the rest, while the sixth never rose above the sea floors, and the seventh lived to tell the tale."

Silence pervaded in the room, as Ash did his best to grasp whatever Bill had shared with him.

"From what we know, it was the _King Charizard_ who got his ashes distributed through an entire plain, one that is today known as the _Charicific Valley_."

"What's that?"

"Charicific Valley? It is a solitary island in the Johto region with several active volcanoes on it, though surprisingly, the volcanoes never erupt and yet maintain a steady flow of liquid magma out of them, enough to keep them in an active state, and yet slow enough to allow the magma to cool before it is able to reach the plain. The entire island is said to be some kind of Charizard-haven, and Charizards from all over the world go there, some stay there all their lives, train amongst themselves and grow stronger. I'd advise you, that when your Charmander had evolved fully, you should get him to train himself there. The very air there is saturated with the King's own power, it is said."

"…wow." Ash whispered, before he remembered something. "Bill… the seventh one, the one who lived to tell the tale." Ash paused. "Who was that?"

Bill smiled oddly. "The King Dragonite. And it is in his search, that I have spent the last six years alone in this lighthouse, hoping that one day, he'll hear my call and wake up from the ocean floors."

"And?"

"And two days ago, I received a certain... electromagnetic disturbance that could only be caused by a substantial change in the ambient draconic energy in the air."

"You mean-?" Ash's words died in his throat, as a long, ever distant call reached his ears. It was… strangely enticing, mesmerizing, almost as if something afar was calling him.

"You hear that?" Bill asked in a whisper. "That's him. The King. He's coming."

Bill paused,

"And when he comes, you and I will be the lucky ones to meet him."


	5. Dragons, mice and crustaceans

For eons, the last of the seven kings had passed his time, his mind trapped in enchanted slumber by the _all-knowing-aberration_ sealed on land, until _he-who-burns-the-earth_ shattered the _fallen's graveyard,_ and now, the humans would slowly move in. Was this the oncoming of the storm they had foretold? The _spirit-of-the-forests_ had still to travel, and thus, it wasn't time enough for the last king to rise in defiance.

Therefore, it must wait. Amidst the swirl of the ocean, it must wait.

Deep beneath the ocean's floors, cohabiting beside the _guardians of the sea,_ the King waited, and waited, waiting for a sign, a totem, anything that could be a symbol that the time had finally arrived. There would be, of course, more events in time before the cataclysm came burning down from the heavens again, but at least this time, the _aberrations_ sealed on land wouldn't be able to betray their own kind.

Time will tell.

 _Time_ , and the _spirit-of-the-forests,_ will tell.

* * *

 **Meanwhile in Pallet Town.**

"Professor, what could possibly have caused this?" Delia Ketchum asked her superior, as the two researchers looked at the unfolding anomaly from the laboratory's terrace. It had been completely normal around… fifteen minutes ago, and suddenly, the entire Kanto region seemed to be… engulfed in some kind of swirling fumes, and dense fog.

Anyone else would have perhaps called it a weather anomaly, and left it at that. The more superstitious ones would have proclaimed it as the judgement of the Legendaries on humankind, and that Armageddon was near. Samuel Oak however, knew better.

"The concentration of draconic energies in the atmosphere has suddenly crossed the Marilyn Benchmark." Oak muttered ominously, as he rushed back to his lab, and began typing commands into one of the mainframes in his lab, gathering information about a possible epicentre for this… anomaly. Most anomalies had to have a certain epicentre, and if not, at least a radius where it generated from. Unless of course it was….

Samuel Oak stopped himself before entertaining _that_ thought.

Delia palmed her mouth in excitement. "The Marilyn benchmark? But that's impossible. The sheer presence required for that would be too high that the resultant positive interference of a-"

"It has happened before," Samuel paused.

 _Twice._ He thought. "Once. It has happened once before, some… forty years ago."

'It… did?" Delia was blank. "But… how?"

"The _sky-high dragon_ had come down to the earth, because an alien… pokémon had had the audacity to pass through her dominion without her permission."

"The sky-high dragon, you mean Ray-"

" _Do not speak of her name so lightly."_ Samuel chided her. "Names have power, Delia. Please do not use them lightly."

"But the name is question is not exactly _her_ true name, is it, professor?" Delia challenged. For a man so well-travelled and a genius, Samuel Oak certainly was a man of contradictions. More so, when it came to legendaries. For someone who had been unchallenged as an Elite for over twenty years, Samuel Oak held _unfathomable terror_ when it came to legendary pokémon.

"That may be so," Samuel snapped, "but I forbid you from using it. Not even in my absence."

"Whatever you say, Professor." Delia frowned. "But you never completed that. What exactly happened back then?"

Samuel looked nostalgic. "The _sky-high dragon_ came down roaring at the extra-terrestrial abomination, and the two of them had a battle, one that had engulfed the entirety of the North Pole for over a year."

"An entire year?' Delia was shocked. "How is it that I haven't read anything about it?"

"Classified information. You need specific levels of clearance for that. As it is, only me, Professor Sycamore of Kalos, and _a certain someone_ know about it. Not even the Indigo League or Lance has any knowledge of those events, since it was declared on a need-to-know basis."

"Then how did you-?"

"I was there." Oak admitted. "We were researching the existence of fossils of a certain… pokémon that could be called as the precursor to the modern-day mega-evolved _Gyarados."_

Delia was stumped. "And?"

"As I said, the information is classified. I cannot share any further details than that, forgive me."

Delia swallowed. "Do you think that something like that is happening once again?"

"I believe so." Samuel sighed in frustration. "Though it seems centered around Kanto region, specifically in the regions surrounding the Cerulean Sea."

The Cerulean Sea was the expansive waterbody that surrounded the regions of Pallet, Cerulean, Viridian and Vermillion, before meeting up with the Pacific Ocean further east.

"That's…. a small region, considering everything."

"It is, indeed." Samuel felt his left eye twitch, as he read the results of his simulated program, one that had tracked down the location of the epicentre. "Delia, you should know that Ash called in on me some hours ago."

"He did?" Delia asked, "That's surprising."

"You do not expect your son to call you when he's out as a trainer?" Oak asked in surprise.

"Well, Ash's always… been so very much like his father, and, truth be told, I was half-expecting to not see him for at least until he had attained all the badges and given a try at winning the Indigo Conference." Delia admitted, rubbing a lone tear that threatened to fall from her right eye.

"Delia." Oak chided. "You know that there is more to Ash than being his _father's son_."

"I know." Delia had an undecipherable expression on her face. "Red Ketchum certainly did make _sure_ of it that he _removed_ a significant part of _himself_ from Ash."

"You know why he did it." Oak tried.

"Yes, and I understand it damn well. Doesn't mean I've to like it, do I?"

Oak looked away. "Delia… you should know that when Ash called me this afternoon, he was… in Bill Montgomery's lighthouse, the one located at the Route 24 ferry junction."

"It must be the same there as well then, considering-" Delia rattled off, before it hit her. "Professor, what aren't you telling me?"

Oak took a deep breath. "The _exact_ epicentre of this anomaly is… eight hundred and seventy metres away from Bill's lighthouse." Oak paused, unsure of how to continue. "And it is moving closer to it by the minute."

* * *

 **Back at Bill's Lighthouse.**

Ash was in two minds. One on the one hand, he certainly wanted to see this mythical King Dragonite for himself, a pseudo-legendary dragon who had once been the rulers of the region, and had made sure that civilization thrived and not get… erased by this uncertain… apocalyptic phenomena. On the other hand, he couldn't help but remember the events deep beneath the floors of Mount Moon, when he had faced the sheer presence of the Legendary King of Ice. Even the supremely-powerful metagross had been rendered tired in its attempt to fight, and the King had blown that attempt off by a single ice-beam.

 _First the Legendary king of ice, and now a King dragon? All of this within the span of a week? This isn't… just a coincidence, is it?_

"Are you ready, Ash? To be entrusted with the opportunity to behold the greatness of a _King dragon?_ I admit, this would be one of those times when I should yell, 'eureka' or 'excelsior'… I'm, uncommitted."

Another ever-distant voice loomed into the heavens, past the darkened clouds, past the ever-deepening mist that had manifested itself all around the lighthouse, and possibly even further.

"Do you really think it would be a good idea, Bill? I mean… what if it attacks us?" Ash asked, keeping his tone as sceptical as possible.

Bill gave him an awkward look. "Why would you say that? Have you perchance… had the sheer luck to stand in front of a Legendary?"

 _Yes._

"No." Ash lied. "I'm just… asking, you know."

Bill chortled. "Your paranoia is admirable, Ash, but there is a time for that, and," his face shifted into a grin, one that was too much like- _Derrick -_ Ash realized, "—and there is a time for unbridled hope, like this."

 _I can only hope that your hope saves you from getting killed, Bill._ Ash didn't say. Despite Bill's technologically advanced fortress that was the lighthouse, Bill didn't have a stupidly powerful metagross to save him, nor another Alakazam to teleport him out. On second thought, he should start looking into a TM for teleport to teach it to Metang. Even better, he would need to capture a psychic pokémon, specifically of the Abra line, given their innate talent for teleportation. Staying alive was so much better, the after-effects of psychic travel be damned.

 _Perhaps I could call home and ask if Mum's Kadabra had a baby somewhere?_

His mum, Delia Ketchum was Professor Oak's assistant, and was personally invested in psychic pokémon. Her Mr. Mime, Kadabra and Gardevoir, while on the same level of Professor Oak's Alakazam, were fairly powerful in their own right. He had never really met his father, though he was told that he looked fairly like him, and that his father was off… doing things for the greater good, although his mother rarely heard from him, if ever. As far as Ash was concerned, he had had a single parent in his entire life.

His mother.

While he didn't really get her trait of analysing pokémon in a lab, he had retained her sharp wit and on-the-spot thinking, especially when it came to noticing the behaviour of pokémon. Growing up with psychics, Ash had gained… a measure, so as to say, of the power of those _know-it-all_ species to not understand what _power_ truly meant.

 _Especially not since I stood in front of Articuno._

"He's coming, Ash. The King's approaching closer." Bill began excitedly, his shaking limb pointing towards the humongous shadow due west, approaching them with exaggerated slowness.

Ash turned in the direction, and froze…. In awe. The shape, still engulfed in darkness, was easily over a hundred feet in height, almost as tall as the lighthouse itself. The behemoth slowly traversed past the silent waters as it pushed its way towards the lighthouse, towards an overly excited Bill and a stupefied Ash who were staring at it in wonder. Ash could make out the two wings on either end, easily spanning over thirty feet in length by the minimum, and the two tentacle-like protrusions on either side of his head, though they looked more like horns from the distance, and his body was more… sharp, instead of the slightly globular shape that Professor Oak's Dragonite was.

"King… Dragonite!" Bill muttered. _"An-sah-lohn!"_

In hindsight, that was probably a mistake. The moment Bill muttered his name, his _true name,_ the pseudo-legendary king turned his attention towards the researcher and by extension, the kid standing beside him. The king's eyes narrowed as he detected a possible… _emptiness_ within the kid, standing aside the man who had, in possible arrogance, dared to call upon his name.

" _You dare…."_ The loud, powerful, menacing voice shattered both Bill's and Ash's mind, as the king communicated his thoughts. _"You dare… command me with my name…"_

Bill took a step back in fear. "But I never—forgive me, King Dragonite. I just, it has been my dream to behold your presence. I have been researching-"

But the King's attention had shifted from the stupidly arrogant man to his companion. _"You…"_ He addressed Ash directly… _"-shouldn't have existed."_

 _Me? …. I shouldn't have… existed? But why?_ For some reason, Ash knew instinctively that the King Dragon was speaking to him, and that Bill couldn't hear it.

But the King had already spoken, and now, was time for his judgement. In a motion bizarrely fast for someone of his age, the mighty dragon spun around, his tail came lashing past the waters, splashing waves on either side, as it slammed onto the lighthouse, shattering the psychic defences in place, breaking past the powerful walls as it completely destroyed the upper part of the terrace. By some stroke of luck, both Bill and Ash, who were standing on the terrace, were _not dead,_ and had escaped with minor scratches and bruises at best.

Ash had the sneaking suspicion that he had _survived not_ because the King _missed_ its mark, rather, he had survived because he _hadn't._ He looked back, trembling as he did, towards the expansive sea, but the King had already vanished from sight.

"I guess…." Bill stood up, completely shaken by the events, "I guess this is what happens when you overstep the boundaries." He gave a half-hearted grin. "You're right, once again, Ash. It was a mistake trying to send signals, trying to spot the sleeping King, It was an ever worse mistake to call out his true name."

"True name?" Ash asked, completely shaken by the experience he had just had. "You mean the An-sah-something you spoke?"

"Forget that I ever mentioned it, Ash. Never mention to anyone what you saw and experienced here. This is a classified event and must remain as such."

 _Right. Classified events. I seem to encounter them by the plenty._

"And forget that you ever heard the King's name."

 _Forget that something like An-sah-lohn exists. Yep, totally cool._

"Once again, Ash. I feel like I owe you, considering that it was my own actions that almost caused out premature deaths."

 _I'm quite sure he doesn't really understand both how true and yet inadequate the statement is._

"It is okay, Bill. You couldn't have known that the King would get enraged and everything." _And you didn't listen to me._

"Either way, I'd like to make things up for you." Bill paused. "Let's go downstairs."

"Wait, what's going to happen to the terrace?"

"Oh that?" Bill waved it away. "I'll just get it fortified back ASAP." He paused. "Damn, that… King, was over a hundred feet. Looks like my estimations were wrong."

 _Advantages of being a multi-billionaire._ Ash thought sarcastically. "I hope everything gets back in form as quick as possible."

"It will, no doubt." Bill grinned. "Besides, this isn't the worst thing I've been in."

 _I'll believe that when I see it._

* * *

 **The next day morning.**

Ash stood at the ferry junction, a bright smile etched on his face, as he stood waiting for the ferry that was visible on the horizon. He glanced down at the _awesome_ gadget on his right hand. It was shaped like an arm bad, with a miniature screen and a couple of buttons on it, protected by a powerful metallic barrier, which slid and out in response to a certain switch at the back.

An Xtransceiver.

It was the _hottest_ technology that was current in _beta stage_ at Silph Co. and given out to a very limited company personnel for beta-testing it out in the real world. The Xtransceiver was the future of the PC Console, one that would allow a trainer on the road to instantly communicate with another (who should have an Xtransceiver as well, naturally), and also allow him to transport/ exchange pokémon to and fro from the coral he is registered to. In essence, he could now transport pokémon to and back from Oak's Coral (Bill convinced him that someone like Samuel Oak _had_ to be a _beta-tester_ for all things pokémon) without having to look out for pokémon centers and the like. It would also help him to transfer injured pokémon instantly to Oak's lab for treatment (which had state-of-the-art medical facilities) without running to pokémon centers. In return, Ash would have to use this… _undeniably awesome_ gadget on a wear-and-tear basis, and report back to Bill how _applicable_ and _useful_ it was in the real thing.

In short, it was natural that Ash was a bit… happy.

He had made a call to Professor Oak earlier in the morning, through the PC console, exchanged contact information necessary for Xtransceiver communication before leaving. Professor Oak had been… slightly odd, given how frequently he was asking if _everything was okay_ or not. From the looks of it, Bill and Professor Oak were likely having a long conversation.

The ferry had finally reached the junction, and people started to come out of the steamship in droves, before the captain gave the signal, as the new passengers, including Ash, stepped into the mechanical contraption. The ferry service, sailed from the coast of Vermillion, stopped at Marina's Bay, and then reached the Route 24 ferry junction. The reverse route also went through the same points, naturally, in reverse.

"Everyone seated?" The captain asked, as he stood at the wheel, before the gears made a strangling noise as the ferry roared up in activity. Soon, they were all sailing towards the horizon, with the long winding Route 24 on the left, snaking its way past the Bavarian cliff. The journey would take quite a while, and having had a momentous night earlier, Ash decided to use the time wisely and get himself some shut eye.

* * *

 **Hours later…**

The sudden turbulence woke Ash Ketchum up from his somewhat troubled sleep. Ever since he had entered Mount Moon, he hadn't really gotten a good night's sleep, not with the memories of Articuno and now, King Dragonite, awakening fear in his heart, making him wake up in the middle of the night, all perspiring and wet, only to fall back and wait as minutes passed by, alone in the middle of the night.

He cheked his watch. Fortunately or not, it wasn't evening. In fact, it was hardly two in the noon, and they were already past Marina's bay, and would be reaching the coast of Vermillion in a couple of hours at most. What surprised him, however, was the somewhat _lacking_ population inside the compartment, and from the sounds of it, there were people on the deck. Instantly releasing Metang to his side, Ash got off from his seat and climbed up using the ladder.

It was a mess.

The ship was… locked, for lack of a better word, within a miniature whirlpool of sorts, and the captain was trying his level best to break the ship out of the swirls. Ash could see a… Poliwhirl and a golduck in the water as well, along with several seaking and a single wartortle in the water, trying to push the ship up, though most of them were intercepting the real reason for the problem.

The ship was surrounded by a dozen different water pokémon, most of which were tentacool, their evolved version tentacruel, and a certain kind of… fish pokémon Ash hadn't seen prior to this.

 **Carvanha. The savage pokémon. Carvanha's strongly developed jaws and its sharply pointed fangs pack the destructive power to rip out boat hulls. Many boats have been attacked and sunk by this Pokémon.**

Ash checked in for further info.

 **Carvanha are in general, water/dark type. If anything invades Carvanha's territory, it will swarm and tear at the intruder with its pointed fangs. On its own, however, this Pokémon turns suddenly timid.**

 _A dark type. Now isn't that interesting._

"Rogue pokémon!" the captain yelled.

"Go, Pidgeotto!" Ash summoned his favourite avian. Pidgeotto, her feathers shining and bedazzling everyone on the ship, as she flew higher up into the sky, staring down at the jellyfish pokémon who were now firing water-jets towards her.

"Dodge, and use air slash on the tentacool, Pidgeotto!"

With a war cry, Pidgeotto shot up higher in the air to get a larger radius, and began to slash her wings through the air, sending energy waves crashing onto the water, hitting the tentacool, and also, disrupting the continuous swirls of the whirlpool those… rogues had created.

 _It seems these wild Carvanha don't really know much except water jets._

"Pidgeotto, use twister." Ash commanded, pointing towards the area where several Carvanha were bombarding the ship's bottom with their powerful tackle attacks. A water column rose, in accordance to the avian's wishes, as she successfully manipulated the swirling currents to capture the rogue fishes within them.

"Metang, use psychic on that Carvanha!" Ash commanded, as Metang obeyed, catching one of the larger specimens in its psychic cage, but the moment the psychic energies formed around it, Carvanha _slipped,_ and got carried along with the twister.

"What..? why didnt it work?" Ash yelled.

Gritting his teeth, Ash threw an empty pokeball right into the twister, and judging by the flash of light, he had captured one of them. Just as programmed, the pokeball, now having captured a pokémon within it, returned back to his hands. "Mission accomplished." He smirked. "Now Pidgeotto, use the twister to get hold of the tentacool and tentacruel and banish them away."

"Damn kid," an elder man next to him scowled. "I was hoping to catch one of those fish pokémon."

"Should've been faster then." Ash smirked back, as he held his new capture in his hand. Turning towards the captain, he gave a thumbs-up.

The captain grinned back. "Good job, kid. That bird of yours is truly something."

Said bird gave an indignant squawk. How dare this plebeian call her a _bird?_ She was a Pidgeotto, born to scour the skies in due time.

Ash chortled at her behaviour. "Never mind him, Pidgeotto. Return."

Pidgeotto gave an unhappy squawk as she got sucked into the pokeball.

* * *

Vermillion city, it seemed was more of an industrial belt than a proper city, a natural thing considering that Commerce City was literally half of the Vermillion region anyway. From the looks of it, both the Pokémon center and the Vermillion gym were both in the industrial belt, though there was another pokémon center on the other side of the city, the one that led all the way to Chrysanthemum Island.

As Ash travelled past the dusty streets of the main city, he could see the more detailed differences between Cerulean and Vermillion. While Cerulean was all about beauty and elegance, Vermillion had seemed to be a mechanical haven, with its large markets, factory belts at a distance, the somewhat dusty roads and lots of… electric and electronic shops. Nothing surprising really, considering that the Commerce industrial belt provided electrical power to more than half of Kanto region, the only exception being those north of Mount Mortar and the ones due east Cinnabar Island onwards.

Ash trudged into the overly-populated Pokémon center, somehow managing to get an empty seat in the lobby, observing from afar at the rushing droves of trainers like himself, running past the lobby, stretchers flying, and injured pokémon in them, all of them unconscious, injured and broken.

"So many injured pokemon? What did this?" Ash asked the brown-haired trainer seated right beside him.

"It's the Vermillion gym leader, Surge. These are merely his… latest victims. That is all." The trainer, who introduced himself as Harrison, explained to him.

"Is Surge…?" Ash felt slightly nauseous at the sights in front of him, "-always this brutal with gym battling?"

"Depends on who you ask, really." Harrison explained, caressing his injured Ratticate as he engaged himself in small talk with Ash. "Last month, Surge was just another gym leader, powerful, tough to beat, but not overly so. This month… he's going double on the brutality scale."

"Huh?" Ash asked in confusion. "Why's that?"

"St. Anne's." Harrison smirked, as if that explained everything.

Ash gave him a perplexed look, much to the other boy's chuckles. "What?"

"You don't know, do you?" Harrison asked.

"Not an idea."

"Well," Harrison let out a whistle. "That's a first. Everyone I met in Kanto over this month is waxing lyrical about it."

"Oh, but what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that St. Anne's a private luxury cruise, one that travels from Johto through Kalos and Unova, and reaches Alola and then back, and makes only two journeys a month, and don't get me started on the expenses. I could live off that money for an entire year."

"…whoa!"

"Whoa indeed!" Harrison laughed. "Apparently, the Indigo League's doing some kind of crazy promotion stunt this year, and Devon Corp. is partnering the League in this. They are… doing some kind of crazy pokémon tournament on St. Anne's, and only want the best people to participate in it. That's why Surge's gone double brutal, making sure that only _competent_ trainers got their Thunder badge, and by extension, a _free_ cruise ticket for St. Anne's."

"A _free_ ticket?"

"Yep." Harrison explained. "But just defeating that old military-man wouldn't do it. You must not lose a single pokémon in a two-on-two battle, and defeat both of his. Rotation is allowed, of course, if you have less than three badges. Only then you get the _free_ ticket in addition to the badge."

Ash sighed in elation. He had two badges on his profile, which meant he would qualify for that. "So, did you get a ticket?"

"Yep." Harrison grinned proudly. "Got it just last week. Been looking around, and training, since the cruise doesn't leave before next Wednesday."

That meant a mere six day difference.

"Where are you from?" Harrison inquired.

"Pallet town." Ash answered. "You?"

"Little root town from the Hoenn region." Harrison answered. "So, how long have you been training, Ash?"

"Uh… two weeks." Ash answered in embarrassment.

Harrison laughed. "A newbie then." He chuckled. "You sure do look more… confident than most. How many badges do you have?"

"Two." Ash answered. "Boulder and Cascade, and before you ask, I defeated them and won it."

"Touché!" Harrison snorted. "I've been a trainer over a year. Decided to take the Indigo league by storm once I got myself some experience back at home."

"How many badges have you gotten so far?"

"Six." Harrison grinned jovially.

"Already?"

"I told you, I've been in for over a year. I guess I should say that I didn't… really rush in for the badges."

"Oh." Ash muttered. "So I guess I'll see you on that ship, after I win the thunder badge."

"Confidence… I like it." Harrison declared haughtily, though it was clear he was not serious. "In that case, we might run into each other even before that, in case you stick around this place and train."

"Any tips for the newbie trainer?" Ash asked genially.

"Ah, now you are _begging_ for secrets." Harrison taunted, much to his chagrin. "Just kidding. Surge's been using a Raichu, a big one that too. That, and he might use either his Electrode or his Electabuzz."

 _Right. One electric-type's not enough after all._

"So Ash, when are you going to challenge Surge?"

"Uh... I was thinking of going now."

"Now? It's almost evening."

"So, I could get myself a badge and call it a day." Ash proclaimed.

"Is that so?" Harrison frowned, "then hang on for a little more. My pokémon would be done any moment. We can go together."

"Uh… sure."

* * *

A while later, Ash and Harrison were walking into the Vermillion city gym for the Thunder badge. Like every other gym Ash had visited, Vermillion gym too was a reflection of its city. The gym seemed to be some kind of factory from outside, and once they have gotten in, Ash had to face blinding light from all sides, as the battle stadium became visible in front of him.

"Another baby?" A very loud, and obnoxious-sounding voice called out.

"Hey Lt. Surge." Harrison wished, still in his normal, relaxed self, as he gave a grin towards the gym leader.

"Harrison, is it?" The shadow in front of them asked, moving towards them into the light, only to be replaced by a large, hunk of a man over six feet tall, and broad enough to have three of Ash's own size to fit in. He was clothed in military apparel, with a rather menacing expression on his face. "Who's this baby?"

"Don't call me a baby." Ash retorted. "I'm here to challenge you, for the thunder badge."

"Oh, this baby can speak too. And pray tell, how many badges do you have?" Surge's voice boomed all over the metallic contraption that was the Vermillion gym.

"Two." Ash returned, in what he supposed was his most intimidating voice.

"Baby." Surge pronounced.

Ash gritted his teeth. "Will you accept my challenge or not?"

Surge laughed at his statement. "Yes, yes, kid, I will. Tell me, are you battling for only the Thunder badge, or are you going for the ticket as well?"

"Both."

"Hit me with a feather," Surge chuckled, "the little baby's got ambitions."

"I am _not_ a baby, and my name is Ash. Ask Ketchum."

"Don't mind him." Harrison muttered from beside. "You'd go cranky as hell too if you had ten times more challengers than normal all of a sudden."

"Fine, you Jacky, come up and referee." Surge ordered one of the men on the balcony, as said person jumped down onto the ground and took said place.

"This will be a two-on-two match. Only the challenger can rotate pokémon. The battle will end when both pokémon are unable to battle any longer. If the challenger loses even a single pokémon, he is disqualified from getting the ticket even if he wins the battle."

"Understood." Ash uttered.

"To the point then," Surge laughed, as he threw his pokeball down onto the battlefield. "Very well, I choose you, Electrode."

What materialized seemed like a large pokeball, with color reversed and large eyes and a mouth painted on it, as the creature initiated sparks of electricity all around it.

 _Ugh! I hate electric types._ Ash thought, as he checked his opponent using his pokedex.

 **Electrode. The Ball pokémon. It stores an overflowing amount of electric energy inside its body. Even a small shock makes it explode.**

 _Okay. Try something like this then._ "I choose you, Metang."

Instantly, his pokeball opened with a pop sound, as Metang came into form, making its usual mechanical noise as it did.

"A metang, huh? Haven't seen one of those recently. Where did you get one, kid?"

"That's… a sort of secret." Ash replied lamely.

"Secret, eh?" Surge laughed. "Never mind. I'll just have punish you a little more for that. Electrode, use Discharge!"

"Psychic." That was all Ash had to say, as the discharged electric power condensed into a single stream and twisted its way back towards Electrode.

"Use swift and then Electro-ball!"

Ash smirked. "Get away and use psychic."

The silvery light that appeared around the Electro-ball twisted its direction, making the electric attack hit a wall causing an explosion. But Ash wasn't done yet. "Trap it using psychic."

"Don't let it catch you Electrode." Surge barked, "get close to it and use explosion."

 _Damn. A suicidal move. Let' try this._ "Use light screen."

A thin barrier of pure light formed between Metang and Electrode, before the latter smashed into it, exploding powerfully. Between Metang's light screen and its steel-typing, the explosion had little to no effect on its body. When the smoke receded, the disorientated face of Electrode was clearly visible.

"Electrode is unable to battle. Challenger wins the first round."

"Ah, I see you've got some balls then." Surge roared. "Try something of this size then, go Raichu."

The overgrown, pale yellow electric mouse stood in front of him, punching its fists like a bully, reminding Ash way too much about his own misfortunate experience with its… less-evolved type. Ash took a step back for a moment. "All right, you asked for it. Return, Metang." He recalled the steel-type, before selecting another pokémon and threw the pokeball into the field. "Go… rhyhorn!"

The rocky rhinoceros stood grunting, glaring at the electric mouse in front of him, as it waited for his trainer's instructions. Over the last two weeks, rhyhorn had grown in size, and gained a lot of body mass. Its rock plates had gotten a lot sturdier, and it had learnt several new moves, enabling it to become a perfectly fine opponent against an electric-type like Raichu.

"So…" Surge had gone slightly silent now. "You are betting on type-advantage to win the challenge, are you, boy?"

 _That's a promotion from baby, I guess._ "I'll take any advantage I can get." He shot back.

Back there, standing away from Ash, Harrison took the entire match in stride. He would admit, seeing the kid, who had revealed to be a newbie with less than a month of experience, to have a rare pokémon like a metang was… surprising, but even more surprising was his way of battling. It was more… natural, than most trainers. Hell, with time, the kid might be able to give him a good fight.

 _First a Metang, and now a rhyhorn. Either he was faking about not knowing about Surge's choice of pokémon, or he simply has a diverse and well-trained collection. And so quickly too. Who is this guy?_ Harrison couldn't help but wonder.

"Raichu, use thunderbolt!" Surge's voice boomed, as the electric mouse took a step back and threw out thousands of volts of electricity down towards the ground-type pokémon.

"Wave it off, rhyhorn!" Ash commanded, and simply enough, rhyhorn was almost unfazed, being a ground/rock-type, both types having high resistance to electricity.

"Is that so?" surge snarled. "Nobody ignores my Raichu's attack. Show this little rhino who's the boss. Raichu, use quick attack!"

Only one thing needed to be said. "Use Earthquake!"

Using its powerful limbs, rhyhorn smashed down onto the ground, sending powerful seismic waves radially outwards, as the tectonic strike destabilized the battle ground, making a serious impact on Raichu, who missed and fell onto the ground, his entire momentum being used against him.

"Earthquake, again!" Ash commanded, his eyes staring at the electric mouse.

* * *

Back in the shadows, Harrison frowned. _What is Ash trying?_ He wondered. It was visible that Raichu had gotten significant damage from the earthquake, which in itself, was almost a special attack in itself. But a major side-effect of the attack was that not even the user is safe from it, and takes in slight damage as well. Two earthquakes back to back would leave rhyhorn standing, but barely so. So then why would….?

Then it hit him.

 _Damn. That guy's cunning._

* * *

The two successive earthquakes had shattered Raichu's defenses, and with his thunderbolt being almost ineffective against rhyhorn, he was in for a really bad time.

"Now use horn attack!" Ash commanded, his tone emotionless, as the rhinoceros grunted and galloped its way towards the electric mouse fallen on the ground.

"Raichu, get up and use Iron tail."

The collision of the iron tail and the horn attack had significant damages on either side, though both pokémon were still standing.

Ash finally lifted his face, and smirked. "Rhyhorn, return." He took out his other battler. "Go, Metang!"

 _Damn that kid._ Surge thought. _He sure knows how to play dirty._

"Use _magnet rise,_ Metang." Ash smirked. It had been one of the two things Bill had taught him the previous night, when they were discussing about pokémon. Bill, who was the mastermind behind the invention anyway, had injected two TM's into his pokémon.

 _Light Screen_ , and _Magnet Rise_. Both, for his Metang. Naturally, while the psychic/steel-type had registered the motions for those moves, it was yet to perform them with anything remarkably close to perfection. Ash certainly hoped that it would be enough to get through the battle, specifically since Raichu was already injured and Metang had the type advantage.

"Now, use metal claw."

Metang's claws at the ends of his appendages glowed with a bright sheen, as he pushed his psychic-induced levitation towards Raichu, with increasing momentum, added with the defensive capabilities of magnet rise.

"Full power."

Nothing else needed to be said. The steel-type smashed its powerful metal-claw into Raichu's already injured self, banishing the mouse away towards the wall, where it hit with a thud.

"Raichu is unable to battle. The winner is, Metang."

A single, monotonous drone was all that went as a part of Metang's victory song.

* * *

"That…" Surge spoke softly, "—was unexpected." His face then shifted into a large grin as he walked to Ash, and slammed his overly-large palm onto his back, almost sending him thrashing onto the ground. "Well done, kid. You deserve the badge, and the ticket."

"Did you really have to hit like that?" Ash complained, rubbing his back, as he stood back up, facing the man. 'That really hurt, you know?"

"Hah! If that hurt, then you dare hope not even stand in Bruno's presence, kid." Surge laughed. "One slap from that man sent me flying." He recalled without shame.

Ash felt his jaw drop to the floor. "Bruno, like the Elite Four Bruno? You know him?"

Surge laughed louder. "We're cousins, kid. And 'sides, I'm a Gym leader. Of course I know Bruno, or any one from the Elite Four. We are required to face them in battle and survive to get our positions, you know?"

"Battle… _Elite Four_ and survive…" Ash mumbled, trying to be certain that he didn't mishear it.

"What else did you think? We were born like this? Come on, kid. Don't lose me the respect I gained for you from the battle."

Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Ehehehe…"

"Anyway this," Surge placed a shiny orange, metallic badge, which looked like an eight-pointed star with an orange octagonal center, "is the thunder badge, proof that you have defeated Lt. Surge in a fair fight, and this," he slipped out what seemed to be a plastic card no different from a debit card, only that this seemed more… metallic in color, and had the flag symbol of St. Anne on top, "—is the ticket to St. Anne's cruise trip. Hope to see you on the ship, kid."

Ash took both of the items with either hands, looking at them closely, as if fearing that it was a dream. He had just won his third badge, and that too, on the first try. This, he decided, was a mark of improvement as a trainer.

"The ship, as you might know, sets sail next Wednesday. In the meantime, I suggest you start training, kid. Be advised that the tournament will be nothing but tough. Only those trainers that have beaten my gym are going to be there, so better get started."

"I will." Ash returned a smile.

"You better." Surge boomed, as he took out a couple of magnetic discs from his jacket. After some thought, he selected one and offered it to Ash. "This is the TM for _thunder punch._ Your Metang packs a solid punch, but thunder punch has its uses." He began laughing at his own pun, much to the teen's confused looks.

"Ah, never mind." The giant of a man looked apologetic for a moment, before he returned to his usual self. "You are a good kid, Ash was it? I need to ask you to fill in the details before you leave. Monetary advancement for beating the Vermillion gym will be added to your account by the end of the day."

"Uh… thanks, Lt. Surge."

"No worries, kid. No worries."

* * *

 **Later that night…**

"I seriously am in your debt now, Harrison." Ash mumbled, as he allowed himself to sink into the cosy mattress. "Seriously, you have no idea how much I searched for rooms all over the place."

"You should have taken my offer, right then, Ash." Harrison smirked. "You might even have gotten an entire room to yourself for tonight."

"Yeah, well winning a badge at first chance does make you confident." Ash admitted. After getting out of the Vermillion gym, he had bid goodbye to Harrison and got started for the pokémon center to get a place for the night. Harrison had offered to get a room at the hotel he was staying at, but Ash had waved that off, saying that he would just get one at the pokémon center, only to find that all rooms back there were already filled, and in some cases, booked until Wednesday. It had been a tired and tattered Ash Ketchum, who after getting rejected at seven different hotels had finally met Harrison back on the streets, who had offered Ash to stay in his room for the night, and come morning, he would make sure Ash got himself a room for himself.

"So… you have quite the pokémon collection, Ash. I must admit, I have _never_ seen someone use a Metang in a gym battle. They are quite… rare."

"Yeah, I suppose you have a point there." Ash admitted.

"Why don't you show me your pokémon? I'll show you mine in return."

"All right," Ash agreed with a grin. "Come out, guys." He threw the pokeballs onto the floor, as the cacophony of his friends came into existence. "Bagon, Charmander, Metang, Poliwhirl, Rhyhorn, Pidgeotto… all of you meet Harrison. He's a friend."

All six pokémon greeted him in their own way.

"A Bagon? How did you get a Bagon?" Harrison asked in curiosity. "Last time I checked, they are native to Hoenn, my region, and even then, quite difficult to come across."

"He's my starter, actually." Ash answered. "Professor Oak got me one."

"Professor Oak, eh?" Harrison asked, cupping his chin. "Interesting. Professor Birch mentions him a lot."

"Oh." Ash muttered, before something came to mind. "Oh shit, I totally forgot." He quickly took out the seventh pokeball and activated it.

"What did you—and why are you holding that pokeball?"

"I just- well, I caught a Carvanha this noon. I totally forgot to bring it out in the excitement of the gym and St. Anne." He returned sheepishly.

Harrison chortled at Ash's expression. "Happens. Now stop wasting time and let's meet your Carvanha."

"Alright," Ash smirked, "pokeball, go."

The light shot out of the pokeball, as it condensed into a shape, forming giant pincers on two sides, as a large, lobster-like pokémon, which materialized into existence. It was a red pokémon with a golden star on its forehead, large claws on either limb, and two claws on both feet and a long tail. From the looks of it, it was almost half of Ash's own height, as it croaked.

"Craw—daunt!"

"That… doesn't really seem like a Carvanha, Ash." Harrison commented blankly.

"No, it does not." Ash returned, a stupid expression on his face.

 **Crawdaunt. The rogue pokémon. Crawdaunt has an extremely violent nature that compels it to challenge other living things to battle. Other life-forms refuse to live in ponds inhabited by this Pokémon, making them desolate places.**

Ash was barely listening to Dexter's advice, his mind and eyes were too busy, staring at Crawdaunt, who seemed to be staring back at him predatorily. It raised one of its pincers up in the air, before jumping towards Ash-

And getting hit successively by a psychic attack, followed by a dragon pulse right on the face-

And getting banished against the wall.

"Ash!" Harrison yelled, "Put it back in the pokeball."

"Uh, right!" Ash held the pokeball up. "Return." Despite Crawdaunt's indignant grunt, it was sucked in instantly.

* * *

"That went well." Harrison exclaimed, as he got himself a comfy little place on the couch, with Ash reclining against a chair beside the bed. "How the hell did I catch that? I'm pretty sure I made Metang hold the fish up using psychic."

"Okay, now there's a story." Harrison grinned in interest. "Tell me about it."

"Nothing much, really." Ash waved it away. "The ferry I was travelling, was attacked by rogue water pokémon—tentacool, tentacruel and the like. I spotted these… fish pokémon, Carvanha—never seen them before so I checked and found that they have a dark typing-"

"Fond of dark types eh?" Harrison raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they are perfect ghost hunters, and good against psychic. I need some on my team if I want to catch a ghost. Metang's good but their otherworldly energies' gonna fry his circuits out."

The brown-haired teen chortled at that description. "Go on."

"Well, that was it. Pidgeotto created a nice little twister, pulling those fishes up, and Metang held one of the larger ones in place, though it didnt work and the twister sucked it back in."

"Obviously, it wouldnt. Psychic attacks do not work on dark-type, even if it is partial dark-typing." Harrison explained. "Though there are ways to counter that."

"Oh," Ash realized, " So then I threw the pokeball and it registered a catch so I thought-"

"That you caught a Carvanha-" Harrison finished for him.

"—and got landed with this brute fellow instead." Ash finished sourly.

"Ha! Don't be so dramatic. Crawdaunt are in general, pretty strong pokémon. Though I would say, it's easier to tame them when they are Corphish. I'd know, I've one of them myself."

Ash's ears perked up. "You do?"

"Of course, they are native to Hoenn, and they too have the dark typing you are so obsessed with."

"I am _not_ obsessed with dark typing!" Ash retorted.

"Of course you aren't." Harrison drawled. "Anyway, you do realize that you have an awful lot of Hoenn natives on your team, don't you? One would think you are from my region instead of Pallet town."

That surprised Ash. "I do?"

Harrison lifted his head and laughed hard. "You ought to check a little more, buddy. Bagon, Metang, Crawdaunt—all of them are Hoenn natives."

Ash looked at him, perplexed. "But… but then how come I caught them here?"

"Simple. Because of the regional-cooperation programme going on between Kanto and Hoenn over the last year. There have been exchanges between our National Reserve and Fuchsia safari, causing exchange of several dozens of Hoenn natives and Kanto natives."

"But they are still staying at the Safari, right?" Ash questioned. "Why would that-?"

Harrison looked at him with a scrutinizing expression. "You aren't trying to fool me, are you?"

"Uh… no?"

"And you, Ash Ketchum from Pallet town, do not know that trainers are allowed to visit Pokémon reserve stations, and catch them?"

"They… are?"

Harrison face-palmed.

"How the hell did you manage to get your licence?" Harrison literally screamed.

"Uh… I barely managed to pass in the theory, actually. The practical stuff pulled me up."

His friend paused at that. "If I hadn't seen you battling Surge, I'd never have believed. Ash, every trainer out there has one thing common in mind. Get to a pokémon reserve, and catch their favourite pokémon, though I'll tell you, the pokémon over there are pretty wild."

"Oh." Ash replied, as realization filled him. Punching his fist in the air, he exclaimed, "Great! The fuchsia safari it is, next."

"You'd do better to get to Celadon first." Harrison advised, chuckling at his antics. "There's the Celadon game corner, and you can win rare pokémon there, and there's Lavender town close by. I hear it's pretty haunted. You can fulfil your ambition of being a ghost-catcher there."

Ash threw a pillow at him.

"Yes, yes, keep hitting me, and I might not tell you about how to use psychic pokemon against the dark type, next time you try to fight one with your precious Metang." Harrison sneered, though it was clear that he was only pulling his leg.

"Oh come on!" Ash whimpered.

Harrison chortled. "All right, now don't be a baby. It's called Miracle Eye, and that's all I'm going to tell you. Do your own reserach."

"Miracle eye huh?" Ash pondered.

"All right, so do you want to meet my pokémon?" Harrison took out the pokeballs from his waist, and activated them. "Come out, everyone."

Bright light inundated the entire room, as the pokémon materialized into their physical forms. Ash could see a Blastoise, a Ratticate, a Dodrio, an Arcanine, and two more pokémon whom he couldn't identify. The first looked like a giant, black dog, with horns, and gave out an aura of maliciousness. The other, looked like a grass-type pokémon, though it was slightly reptilian in shape, and had a twig in its mouth.

 **Houndoom. The dark/fire pokémon. They spew flames mixed with poison to finish off their opponents. They divvy up their prey evenly among the members of their pack. Identifiable by its eerie howls, people a long time ago thought it was the grim reaper and feared it.**

"Cool," Ash muttered, before checking the other one out.

 **Grovyle. The wood gecko pokémon. The leaves growing out of Grovyle's body are convenient for camouflaging it from enemies in the forest. This Pokémon is a master at climbing trees in jungles.**

"Fast." Ash observed, and found to his amusement, that Grovyle gave him a prideful look. The creature must indeed pride on it speed.

 _Just like Pidgeotto._

Ash looked at the others. Arcanine, truth be told, was on the smaller side. Professor Oak's Arcanine were, at the very least, seven feet in height, and the old man had five of them. By comparison, Harrison's was hardly reaching four feet yet.

"Recently evolved, has he?" Ash asked, nodding towards the powerful fire-type.

"Just a month ago. He actually evolved during the battle with Surge. Saved me from losing, actually."

"Where's that…. Corphish was it?"

"Yeah." Harrison acknowledged. "He's back at Professor Birch's coral, because of the limitation of-hey, how come you've got seven pokémon on your person?"

Ash looked a tad guilty. "I… got a certain privilege out of something, and got my roster… increased."

"To?"

"Twelve." Ash lied.

"Pshew!" Harrison whistled. "That's the standard limit for experienced trainers." Harrison paused, staring at Ash, before his glance went towards his left wrist. "What's that?" He asked, pointing at the Xtransceiver.

"Uh… this is, well," Ash replied evasively, unsure of what to say.

"One of those certain privileges you cannot talk about?"

"… Something like that." Ash felt a tad embarrassed, having to hide things from the person who had been nothing but helpful to him. However, the Xtransceiver wasn't yet on the market, and Bill had made him promise (and might have made him sign a legal contract) of not blabbing out its features to strangers. While Harrison wasn't really a stranger per se, he wasn't affiliated to Silph Co. and hence….

"I'm sorry, but I _really_ couldn't say about it even if I tried."

Harrison raised an eyebrow. "Legal contracts, I take it?" he had heard Professor Birch talk about them. Such contracts were created and maintained by psychic techniques, created out of research on psychic-types. Once a party signed a contract, a psychic-barrier would form in his mind, rendering him unable to speak about it to people without the other party's permission.

"Uh… maybe?" Ash returned, just as evasive as before. Legal contracts were a thick nut to deal with, and now that he thought about it, Derrick and his metagross must have done something similar with his mind to keep the information secret, because despite his attempts, he had found himself _unable_ to think about sharing that information with others.

 _The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know about psychics._

"All right, Mr. _secret-keeper,_ " Harrison joked, shifting the topic of the conversation. "You should be more careful about revealing all your pokémon in front of people. It might give them… all sorts of ideas."

 _Right._

"What do you plan to do with your Crawdaunt?"

"I…" Ash stopped there, considering his words. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, preferably in presence of the rest of my pokémon. Maybe have a standard battle, defeat him and stuff. Maybe that would make him more compliant or something?"

Harrison shrugged.

* * *

 **The next day.**

"All right, everyone," Ash declared, "I'm going to release Crawdaunt. Just like yesterday, he might attack me, and in that case, I'll need your help to hold him back."

All of his pokémon cheered in unison.

Ash let out a deep breath.

Earlier in the morning, Harrison had, true to his word, had a talk with the hotel manager, and managed to squirm out a room booked for Ash until Wednesday. Apparently, hotels weren't allowing people to stay for more than a day, and were charging for a single-day basis, and that too, on a high-price. Even the hotel business, it seemed, wasn't unaffected by the St. Anne promotion event.

Once Ash had moved into his own room, Harrison had bid him goodbye for the day, off to do his private training with his pokémon. Making sure that he wasn't missing anything, Ash had left for the Vermillion pokemart, and gotten himself the TMs for _flamethrower, crunch_ and _aerial ace._ Aerial Ace was a powerful offensive move, which would suit his favourite avian perfectly, while _flamethrower,_ contrary to his previous plans, was a must since Charmander wasn't the best pokémon to be expected to master it the natural way. Both Bagon and Charmander (and rhyhorn, much to his surprise) seemed to have the ability to learn the move via TM, though the charmander-line could learn it naturally. The other move, _Crunch,_ was a potential dark-type move which could give his pokémon a good ace in battle, and the fascinating thing was, Charmander, Bagon, rhyhorn, Poliwhirl (and Crawdaunt, should he consent to comply with Ash's commands) could be imbued with the knowledge of performing _Crunch_ via TM. Knowing that he still had two more TMs to acquire this month for free, he made sure that he wasn't missing anything as of yet.

"Alright," Ash breathed. "Let's do it." He lifted the pokeball, and released Crawdaunt-

And nearly died.

* * *

The moment Crawdaunt felt the capture device stop maintaining him in the suspended animation stage, he instantly let out a roar, and seeing the human (the bane of its existence, the first thing in front of him, he raised his pincers in rage and leapt towards Ash, aiming for his throat. If not for the two successive dragon pulse attacks from those two loathsome fire-type little monsters, he would have snapped the human's neck in one strike. Instead, he was sent flying back, several feet away, slamming into the ground, as he felt his exoskeleton get bruised.

Crawdaunt gave a defiant growl. He had been happily swimming in the sea, catching one of those juicy red carps at a whim. Sometimes he even let them go, and then hunted them back. After all, who doesn't like a good hunt, especially when the prey is certain to be juicy as all hell?

Instead, there was this giant twister out of nowhere, rising out of the water, most possibly caused by that devilspawn of an avian soaring in the air, and he had gotten captured inside it, taken off-guard. Even then, it wasn't that bad, since one of those _know-it-all_ 's have held a fine meal ready for him, even in the twister. He had just gotten to almost grab those delicious fishes-

And gotten captured in one of those infernal contraptions that damnable human had thrown at him.

Crawdaunt wanted revenge, and he would have it. So, despite getting beaten down (for the second time, he seethed inwardly), he got himself up for another round, only for the _know-it-all_ to bind him with their power. It was strange, since know-it-all's didnt usually manage to do that.

He let out an enraged growl.

"Listen to me, Crawdaunt." Ash spoke in what he thought was his most intimidating voice. "Regardless of the circumstances, I caught you and now, I am your trainer. That's something that's not going to change, regardless of how you feel about it."

Crawdaunt tried to raise his pincers in indignation, but couldn't move his body, no thanks to the psychic trap he was caught within. He could feel the psychic-type having trouble, but decided better of it. It was always better to get the psychic tired, before going for the kill.

"I am a pokémon trainer, and all my pokémon are my friends. We train together so that we can become powerful, and I'll make sure that all my pokémon become the most powerful in the world."

That caught Crawdaunt's attention, considering that he gave Ash a sharp look before snorting away.

"Oh, so you think it is all empty boasts, is it?" Ash challenged.

Crawdaunt gave him a challenging look.

"You know what?" Ash retorted. "I think that _you,_ are the one who is weak. In fact, I'm pretty sure that _each and every one_ on my team can beat you, hands down."

Crawdaunt snorted, but listened.

"If all six of my pokémon can defeat you fair and square, then you will comply to my wishes and become part of my team. If you manage to defeat even _one_ of my friends, then I'll personally set you free, back at to the sea.

Now _that,_ captured Crawdaunt's attention.

"Yes," Ash replied with a tone of finality. "You are a fully-evolved pokémon, and none of mine are yet there. Still, they are capable enough to beat you." He turned towards Metang. "Release him."

The psychic trap vanished, rendering the crustacean free to move his appendages. He grunted in agreement, raising his pincers angrily towards the psychic-type.

"So, you wanted to fight Metang first? Do you really want your arse handed down to you that badly?" Ash taunted, but it was true. Metang was probably his strongest, at least in versatility. He wasn't sure, but Bagon and Poliwhirl would probably rank second.

Crawdaunt glared at him.

"Metang, get ready for battle."

The psychic/steel-type merely floated up front near the water/dark type as Ash took a step back. From his estimations, the crustacean wasn't that powerful or well-versed with its dark-typing, since it would have, otherwise, been able to snap off the psychic attack.

 _Now I only need to take this lobster down by surprise._

"All right then, let's get this started with."

* * *

 **AN : Okay, now a few things that i decided to clear up before the story continues.**

 **One, there will be many situations where I will go against the canonic information (based on the anime, for me), for my story plot line.**

 **Two, someone pointed out that Ash has been catching too many pokemon too soon. I respectfully, disagree. From what I remember, Krabby was Ash's seventh pokemon and he caught it right before entering the Lighthouse. In my fic, Ash has 6 pokemon, which is in fact, less than that. Besides, I will have him catching quite a number of pokemon (which is not... um... unnatural for trainers, considering Gary had apparently caught over 45 pokemon before the Indigo League had started.)**

 **Now before you ask, no I am NOT aiming for that figure.**

 **Third, the Mega Charizard X question. I'm pretty sure you'll surprised over my plans for Charmander.**

 **Fourth, and this is extremely important. Please do not look at Legendary pokemon or even... ancient pseudo-legendaries (or any other ancient pokemon) with their GAME STATS in mind. You'll be up for a great shock if you do so.**

 **I guess that is all. Constructive reviews and suggestions are very much appreciated.**

 **AN2 : The psychic/dark issue has been addressed.**


	6. Purpose

**AN: Another chapter done! I'd like to use this moment to clarify a few things. One, I have made it clear right from the start that I consider the anime as canon, and will, depending upon the plot line, deviate from it if necessary. And that includes my take on legendary, and (fan-term or not), pseudo-legendary. This is fanfiction, and while there is no comparison going on between that and canon, I'll create the lore, stats and backstory for my fanfic as I see fit. If you have constructive suggestions, please go ahead. If you're here to simply criticize my choice of starter, or my definition of shiny, or my shifting of events, please go and read something else. Nobody's forcing you to read this story.**

 **Okay, that was all. Let's move on with the latest chapter of LEGEND.**

* * *

Barring any records of the _Time Before,_ the regions of Kanto and Johto have always been like two independent provinces that shared a lot of traditions, and history together. In fact, Johto and Kanto were known to be _together in strength and spirit,_ a vision promoted by the fact that both regions were governed by the same committee, though under the jurisdiction of two independent organizations, the _Indigo League_ of Kanto, and the _Johto League_ of Johto. The conferences were responsible for regulation of pokémon training, battling, conservation and development. Each conference had a defensive wing, known as the _Elite Four,_ a group of four talented individuals, who were a Master of a particular pokémon type, both in breeding, training and battle. When it came to a matter of regional security, the word of an Elite Four member was law, and only superseded by the Inter-regional Head of Defense, also known as the _Champion._

Every year, the Indigo Conference held an international event, known as the _Indigo Conference,_ a grand scale tournament that allowed participating trainers from all parts of the world to come and participate, the sole requirement being that they would have to win _eight_ badges from the various gyms spread throughout the Kanto region, usually one in each city. Once in the tournament, a trainer would have to battle other participants, and so on, through the process of elimination, a single winner would be chosen each other.

After the completion of the tournament proceedings, the _winner_ is given an offer on behalf of the Indigo League, the chance to join its ranks as an Ace trainer. After his joining, the winner would go through extensive private training with the Elite Four, the entire time limited to a single year at maximum, after which, he would join the ranks as a full-fledged Ace trainer—a job with good social stature, solid money and perks. Ace trainers were, in effect, the second layer of defense against malicious forces, the first layer divided into two divisions- the Police force, responsible for cutting down _human-related_ crime, and the Pokémon Ranger Squad, responsible for preventing _pokémon-related_ crime, though the two divisions are known to work together on numerous occasions. Should the matter be beyond either of the divisions, _only then_ are the Ace Squad called in for duty.

However, should the matter in question involve supernatural activity connected to legendary pokémon, or cataclysmic events engineered by malicious organizations, then the big guns come out to play, namely the Elite Four. Currently, the positions are held by the Fighting-type Master Bruno, the Psychic-type Master Sabrina, the Ice-type Master Lorelei, and the Ghost-type Master Agatha. These four behemoths, with the occasional presence of the current Champion Dragon-type Master Lance Wataru, are responsible for maintaining peace over the lands of Kanto.

* * *

 **Indigo Plateau. Offices of the Kanto Elite Four.**

"Lance, _exactly how difficult_ is it to understand the point I'm trying to make?"

Lance Wataru was annoyed. The Dragon-master from the legendary Wataru clan had singlehandedly maintained peace over the regions of Kanto and Johto for the last nine years. However, ever since the Kanto-Hoenn Cooperation Programme had come into effect, things had gotten a little… messier around there. In order to improve and maintain relations, he had invited the former Champion of Hoenn Steven Stone, to take up the post of his _Deputy_ , and make sure that the Johto region didn't suffer from any… negligence, since it seemed like Kanto would be occupying his time for quite some time now. Steven, who had been Champion for five years before losing it to the new Champion Wallace, had greatly appreciated the thought and taken up the offer.

In hindsight, it was also a perfect move for positive media coverage, and had gone a good way in the mutual relationship between the regions. It was _almost,_ almost worth the headache the same Steven Stone was giving him right now.

He stood up from his chair, glaring at the wide screen opposite him, his usual mode of communication with the former Hoenn Champion, as he tried to keep his irritation in check. "Tell me, Steven," he began slowly, "—outside of these… premonitions that Sabrina has been getting, _what exactly_ are your reasons to cancel the biggest event of the decade?"

"The unexplained draconic activity over the Cerulean-"

"Is classified and too localized to be of any importance." Lance cut him out. "Steven, I know that _you,_ and your family, are downright religious with metagross, and psychic premonitions, but _trust me,_ this, is beyond reason. You, on the mere word of a single _girl_ , want me to completely shatter _everything_ I've been working on."

"— _we_ have been working on." Steven corrected angrily. "And just so you know, this… _girl_ you are referring to, is the _youngest Elite Four_ of Kanto, and perhaps the most powerful psychic ever born in the world. For once Lance, get your head out of this fucking promotion event and look at the-"

"Don't _call it,_ a Promotion event!" Lance barked. "The St. Anne cruise is a symbol, a symbol of hope that will finally seal the barely functioning cooperation between Hoenn and Kanto."

"—for which you've done a lot," Steven agreed. "I don't disagree with that, but is it really worth it, Lance? With all that's happening all around?"

" _What,_ may I ask, is _happening all around?"_

Steven took a deep breath. " _Drake,_ mentioned that things were… unruly, in the air."

Lance opened his mouth, then shut it.

"The sudden rise of this… _Team Rocket,"_ Steven sneered, "the sudden hyperactivity of psychic pokémon, Sabrina's premonitions, and the rumours about Entei's outrage… need I go on?"

Lance took a deep breath. "Steven, I understand your point, but-"

"If it is Devon Corp. that's troubling you, then you know that I need to make a single call, and it will be done." Steven offered.

 _As if I didn't consider that already._ Lance thought bitterly. "You have made your point, Steven. Now consider mine. The St. Anne's event has been broadcasted to every city and shore in the Kanto region for the last two months. Vermillion city is swarming with trainers, rushing in for the ticket, all in anticipation for the greatest event of the decade. People from Sinnoh, including the champion has boarded the ship as it heads for Kanto in four days, and _you_ want me to _cancel_ the entire thing?"

"But… but Lance, hundreds of trainers, and dozens of VVIP, all on that single ship, alone in the sea, without any fortifications. Don't you think we are painting the bull's eye?"

Lance considered his words. "I… admit it might seem like that from a perspective, but what could _possibly_ defeat _two Champions,_ a team of Elite Four, and hundreds of competent trainers?" He paused, "—or are you trying to tell me that the Champions and the Ace Squad is so incapable that we won't stand a chance against these… _Rockets?"_

"Not against the Rockets, I'm not saying that."

"Then?"

"The Armoured pokémon."

That… shut Lance up. There had been potential rumours about a certain… _armoured humanoid pokémon_ spotted at several regions of Kanto and Johto, although there had been no… digital footage of the events under question. Apparently, it had been responsible for the deaths of a herd of Tauros in Five Isle Meadow, where three hundred and forty one Tauros had been… _strangled_ to death. The forensics had disclosed it to be the work of a _single, large-scale psychic attack,_ followed by a _single, large-scale Crunch,_ the latter aimed _exactly_ at the first three vertebrae, tearing the spinal-cords with the precision of an Alakazam. It had bamboozled everyone since there weren't any _psychic/dark type_ pokémon known to any League- Lance had personally called for favours and inquired for the existence of such a pokémon.

There were none.

And even so, it still wouldn't explain how said pokémon was able to perform both a psychic-type and a dark-type attack at the same time, and that too, over such an extensive population, with one-hundred percent precision. Lance knew for a fact that none of the _known_ legendaries were involved, since the League's _Absol team_ were pretty good at determining the epicentre of an oncoming legendary-interaction.

"Lance?"

Lance stayed busy in his thoughts, his palm firmly holding the edge of the table.

"Lance?"

"Yes?" Lance looked up, his expression disturbed by the thought of such a disturbing notion.

"What are we going to do, if… hypothetically, this armoured pokémon exists, and decides to attack St. Anne? How are we to know that this… _Team Rocket_ is not behind all of this?"

Lance fell back to his chair. "Then I suppose, well need to take protective measures about it. You and the Sinnoh Champion will be present on the ship, with Agatha and Sabrina-"

"Sabrina has straight-away refused to get close to the vessel, as she calls it."

"Right!" Lance drawled, "very well, I'll send Agatha and… Lorelei perhaps, to be on board. I myself, along with a team of Aces, will patrol the surroundings keeping our distance from the ship."

"The Champion of Kanto and Johto wouldn't be there for the largest promotion event of the decade?" Steven asked, surprised.

"As I said," Lance stressed, "this event… is something we cannot afford to cancel. If I'm playing on the safety of several hundred of my region's population, I need to get the job done without any problems."

"But Lance-"

"No more hitches, please." Lance raised a hand. "I'll call in Bruno and… Sabrina, to take care of Kanto while this… St. Anne event is on board."

"Very well."

* * *

 **Back in Vermillion city.**

"All right, Metang," Ash commanded. "Let's get this done. Start with magnet rise."

The iron claw pokémon levitated in front of the crustacean, as magnet rise activated. It was a well-known fact that psychic attacks in general, had little to no effect on dark-types. After the incident the previous evening, Ash had checked up on his pokedex to figure out what _Miracle-eye_ was all about. The answer had been interesting, and… highly illuminating.

 **Miracle Eye. Enables a dark-type pokémon to be hit by psychic-type attacks.**

However, on further research, it seemed that the move was sort of, a one-trick-pony. Once used on an opponent, the effect of the move decreases exponentially with further attacks. Hence, it could only be used as a sudden surprise or perhaps a distraction at best.

The surprising thing was that Metang was naturally able to use Miracle-eye, though after several failed attempts at trying to get a psychic hold on Harrison's Houndoom, who found Metang's attempts to be rather interesting and… dare he say so, amusing. After over an hour of practice and more practice, Metang had begun to get a hold of it. The fact that the iron claw pokémon had made it a habit of maintaining psychic defenses for extended periods of time had certainly helped with improving the extended continuity of his psychic attacks.

He had had Metang activate Miracle eye the very moment Crawdaunt had been thrashed down by the dragon pulses. The fact that Metang had been able to hold Crawdaunt for that while was a testament, both to Metang's own prowess, as well as Crawdaunt's inferior harnessing of the dark-typing in him.

At least that was the theory, so far.

"Use reinforced tackle." Ash commanded, as Metang shot towards the crustacean, who looked ready to return back with what seemed to be a half-baked crabhammer attack. The moment the powerful pincer was about to collide with Metang, Ash changed route. "Now pull back and use light screen."

It was something he had been working on with the iron claw pokémon over the last couple of days. The ability to change momentum midway was an extremely good ability, something Bagon seemed to be natural in. He had made his starter teach the move to the iron claw pokémon, and the results were in front of him.

As is with Light screen, coupled with magnet rise, any ground attacks had zero to little effect, something that was further reduced by Metang's own steel-typing. Besides, light screen allowed him to reverse the damage onto Crawdaunt himself, and that was exactly what happened.

 _Still, the light screen shattered. Need to address that issue later._

"Use toxic and then metal claw!"

The effective combination slammed into Crawdaunt's thick exoskeleton, banishing him away by a couple of feet at the very least. However, the crustacean was far from done, as he sent two powerful torrents of water from its pincers while in mid-air, directly towards the psychic pokémon.

"Use psychic, and reverse the attack."

The psychic energies stopped the water jets midway, combined them into a single, doubly-thick water torrent which shot back at Crawdaunt, who was already too injured to avoid it. However, being a water-type, the jet had little effect save some bruising on its thick exoskeleton.

"N0w use thunder punch!"

There was no way that Metang would have mastered the technique so quickly, since he had barely any practice with it, after Ash had injected the TM into him the previous evening. However, the already wet form of the crustacean, combined with its partial water-typing, enhanced the effects enough to make it count. The powerful aura of electricity, along with the sheer momentum behind the iron appendages, sent Crawdaunt tumbling onto the ground, completely disoriented and in no condition to continue battling.

"Crawdaunt is unable to battle," Ash replied in a monotone. "The winner is, Metang."

Metang let out a victory-note, which once again, was limited to two monosyllables, before he joined up with rhyhorn who was having a hard time trying to use flamethrower.

 _This will take some time._ Ash decided.

Walking up to the fallen crustacean, Ash lifted him up, a tough job considering that Crawdaunt was extremely heavy, pushing him up and against a bench. Taking out a super-potion, he poured a single vial into the crustacean's mouth, though given his reaction, the thing had a bitter taste.

"Swallow it." Ash replied. "It will do you good."

Crawdaunt sent him a glare but did nothing, as it relaxed against the bench.

"I'll be back with a restore potion once your injuries have healed," Ash spoke, his tone stern yet without any anger. "It will not do to have you battle when you are not at your best. I certainly don't want you to think that I'm a trainer who takes attacks others when they are weak." Without waiting for a reply, Ash strode away to join the rest of his team.

"Well done, Metang." Ash praised, a happy smile on his face as he observed the iron claw pokémon to display a little more reaction than before. He turned towards his starter and Charmander. "So, what do you say guys? Wanna have a round of practice?"

Bagon and Charmander had matching expressions on their faces.

* * *

"All right, that's enough." Ash held his hand. "Bagon, your head-butt is strong, I get it. But if you begin to depend too much on that, it will become a serious liability."

Bagon gave an indignant screech, and almost in defiance, went ahead and smashed his head against one of the rock fragments Ash had made rhyhorn raise up for the purpose of training. Just as expected, the rock fragment smashed to bits with a single strike.

Ash snorted. "I wasn't questioning about your head-butt's effectiveness, buddy." He knelt down close to his starter and held him. "You need to be more… versatile. Anyone with knowledge of Hoenn native will know that you guys have head-butts better than most. We don't want them to take advantage of that, do we?"

Bagon looked confused.

 _I might have to do something to get him out of his obsession with head-butt._ Ash pondered. "Tell you what? Charmander here has dragon-breath down, though his dragon-claw and dragon-pulse leave something to be desired." He ignored the indignant 'CHAAR!" from the fire-lizard, and continued, "you, little buddy, on the other hand, have dragon-pulse and dragon-claw down. I know I gave you the flamethrower TM as well, but right now, I want the two of you to teach each other the attacks you know best. Is that okay?"

After a few seconds, both of them stared at each other and turned back to Ash to give a hesitant nod.

"Of course," Ash smirked, "I'm not expecting you guys to do it for free."

That perked their attention.

"If you Bagon, can master Dragon-breath _and_ metal claw by say… by the time we reach Celadon city, and you, Charmander, are able to learn dragon pulse and dragon-claw from Bagon during the same time, I might be inclined towards going to the pokemart and…."

The two draconic creatures stared at him with unabashed curiosity.

"—and get you a _Draco-meteor_ TM."

Okay, they were sold. Or at least, that was what Ash understood from the similar-sounding grunts from either creature. Draco-meteor was, in effect, an extremely powerful move, used by the Garchomp-line to devastating effect. It was Cynthia's Garchomp's signature move, all things considered.

"That's my promise to you guys. I want you," he pointed at Bagon, "and you," he nodded at Charmander, "to cooperate with each other, and _not gossip_ all day."

It was true. Ever since Charmander had joined the gang, it seemed like he was seeing a different shade of his starter, who could go ahead and chatter with the unconventional fire-lizard. A part of him felt good that Bagon's friendliness would go a long way in doing away with Charmander's… inferiority issues. However, that was then and this was now. Besides, the event of St. Anne would take at least two weeks to return from Unova, which meant that the two draconic pokémon had almost a month to accomplish their task.

"-If you do as I said, I'll get that TM."

No other words needed to be said. No other words were exchanged.

* * *

Crawdaunt watched with a scrutinizing expression as the damnable human (somewhat tolerable as of now) trained alongside that rock monster of a rhinoceros. The human stood in front of the mountain-beast, with the floating _know-it-all_ right next to him, as the beast kept on raising rocks out of the ground with powerful stomping of its limbs, and the _know-it-all_ kept smashing the rocks the beast was raising into smithereens with its iron appendages. Even Crawdaunt had to admit, it was a pretty solid way to increase efficiency of the know-it-all's thunder punch. After all, the same technique would also better his somewhat decent crabhammer attack.

"Now try again, rhyhorn. Use flamethrower." Rhyhorn let out a loud grunt, releasing a bout of flames from its mouth. It wasn't that… _effective_ , the more cynical part of Ash's mind pointed out, considering rhyhorn's anatomic design. However, it was a rather… unexpected move to learn, and could be used as a distraction if nothing else. However, when rhyhorn would evolve into a rhydon, the things would be much better.

"Now when rhyhorn charges, I want you," he directed the iron claw pokémon, "to attack back using metal claw. Shouldn't be difficult."

Metang made a grunt of acceptance.

"Now, rhyhorn… horn attack."

Crawdaunt pushed his pincers over to the bench. Just as the somewhat-damnable human had promised, the infuriatingly-disgusting potion had indeed healed his injuries. Now only if the human would keep his promise and give him the restore that he had mentioned. Then, Crawdaunt would show him and those little blighters who was the boss.

"So, you feeling better, Crawdaunt?" The damnable-human just had to break in again.

Crawdaunt gave a grunt in response.

"All right, then." Ash came a little closer, a restore pack in his hand. "Now, I am going to put this into this bowl. If you try to attack me, or worse, damage the bowl, I'll order _everyone_ to attack you at once, and I will not even bother addressing your injuries after that." Ash paused for effect. "Then, I'm going to recall you back in my pokeball and not let you out for a month. Does that sound good to you?"

Crawdaunt looked at him with a disturbed expression on his face. Humans weren't that brutal, were they?

"So, do we have an arrangement?"

Crawdaunt grunted quickly, much to Ash's smirk. "Very well."

* * *

The entire day had passed in training, and it was almost evening by now. Using the Xtransceiver, Ash had made a call to Professor Oak, and luckily, his mom was also present at the lab. After a somewhat half-convincing explanation on his part, he managed to convince his mother that he was, under no conditions, going _out of his way_ to get himself into places of extreme danger. He conveniently ignored the more traitorous part of his mind whispering that he didn't, in fact, need to go _out-of-his-way_ to get himself in danger either way.

Since Metang and rhyhorn had literally trained themselves dry, Ash had transported them to Professor Oak's lab so that they could get the more nutritious and better-tasting food that Professor Oak got his hands on, compared to the more tasteless variety available at pokémon centers. He had asked the professor to recommend him a good book on pokémon food and berries, and Oak had promised to get him a good one soon.

With rhyhorn and Metang both away, and Bagon and Charmander having their work cut out for them, Ash only had Pidgeotto and Poliwhirl to concentrate on. The St. Anne only had five days left to set sail, and he wanted his team in full form before that happened. If necessary, he would have to pick up some battles with the trainers in town, not that it was too difficult, considering there were too many of those wandering about town, looking for battles and quick cash.

 _Bill's help couldn't have come at a better time. He's really a godsend._

Oak had suggested that he let Metang stay for another day or two, since he had arranged a psychic training for the iron claw pokémon with his Alakazam. Oak's psychic type, all things considered, his third most powerful, the first two being his Dragonite and Charizard. However, Alakazam was a complete package, with a rich diversity of move sets enough to make any self-respecting psychic-type wag their tongues out of jealousy.

So, he shifted his attention to the second important item on his schedule.

"So Crawdaunt, if you are all rested and ready, we can start the next round."

The crustacean stood up on his hind limbs, giving Ash a cold stare, before nodding towards Pidgeotto, who was currently perched on Ash's left shoulder.

"Pidgeotto it is." Ash declared. "Whenever you are ready?"

Crawdaunt glared and raised his pincers angrily.

"Have I offended your pride, then?" Ash taunted. "Battling with Pidgeotto will only wound it, I assure you."

Crawdaunt demonstrated a fake vice-grip, just to make his point.

"Right," Ash took a step back, "Pidgeotto, take to the skies."

The avian instantly left his shoulder and soared to the heavens. The yellow-going-crimson sky wasn't as brightly lit as earlier, but it was more than enough for Pidgeotto, who had the ability to see a target a mile away with those sharp eyes.

Ash's lips twisted into a smirk. "Use double-team followed by sand attack!"

Pidgeotto soared down towards the rogue pokémon, forming dozens of illusory forms of itself as it traversed all around Crawdaunt, raising the sand off the ground, creating a miniature sand storm of sorts. Crawdaunt instantly hardened itself, as it waited in silence, for the avian to come closer.

"Use air slash!"

Crawdaunt jumped off the ground, barely missing one of the energy waves lashing out at him, before firing bubble beam at Pidgeotto, one that hit her straight in the abdomen, sending her into disarray.

"Pidgeotto," Ash cried, a little worried now, "are you okay?"

A sharp squawk of agreement was all that he needed to hear.

"Okay then, use toxic and follow it with peck!" Ash commanded, thinking hard about the possible ways of turning the battle in his favour. Crawdaunt's size and power, plus his thick exoskeleton was a little difficult to be put down by normal air attacks. Even toxic would hardly do anything should it use Iron Defense. He would have to think of something- _Aha!_

* * *

Crawdaunt had to admit, for a bird, this irritable avian was making him do a lot of hard work. Sand attack hadn't worked on him, and now perhaps the devious human was trying to poison him, hoping it would slow him down in the long run. Well, fat chance of that happening. Instantly, he hardened his self, and though it wasn't exactly _iron defence,_ it would be more than enough to neutralize the toxic attack. His entire body hardened, glittering with a metallic sheen. _Come to me, you little blighter._

"Pidgeotto, use _steel wing."_

 _Crap._

The wings of the avian glowed bright silver, as she shot towards him, as Crawdaunt increased his harden to the maximum, hoping it would be enough to hold on to- wait—it held its pincers in the direction of the avian, hoping to catch those wings and then shatter her bones.

"Now double team!"

 _Just kill me now._

The avian's eyes glowed an unnatural blue as dozens of its illusions raced towards him in all directions. Crawdaunt closed his eyes and waited for the worst to-

WHAM!

The steel wings slammed into its abdomen, lifting it up in the air, and sending it tumbling down.

"Use twister!"

 _Oh for god's sake._

That same god-forsaken move, which had caused everything to happen in the first place, had come into existence. Still disoriented from the previous attack, Crawdaunt couldn't help but be lifted and thrashed around in the swirling wind of the twister, spinning faster before his mind could process and-

"Slam him onto the ground!"

"…."

"…."

Crawdaunt didn't get up.

"Do you still want to battle?" The despicable, but clearly devious and powerful human trainer asked.

"…." Crawdaunt answered.

"Will do you still want to fight against another of my team? I assure you Bagon is itching for a fight."

"…."

The damnable avian squawked back at the human, and even in his disoriented state, Crawdaunt could understand that it was wanting to continue the battle. The human on the other hand, had different ideas, one, that Crawdaunt found extremely agreeable.

"Are you willing to join my team and train with the others? Comply with my commands?"

"Craw…. Daunt!"

"Is that a No?"

 _Damn you, human._ "Crawdaunt!" He forced himself get up, and with extreme pain, pointed towards the pokeball in the human's hand. _Get my message straight and clear, damn it._

"All right then. Welcome to the family, Crawdaunt." The devious human (now his trainer) replied back. "Return."

 _Valhalla, here I come…._

* * *

 **Two days later.**

"What do you mean, professor?"

With Crawdaunt now rid of his… more rebellious streak, Ash had begun to work with the crustacean in improving his own move sets, which sad to say, weren't that great to start with. They had gone ahead and near-perfected the crabhammer attack, with a little help from his draconic starter. Once it was assured that the rogue pokémon was on his way to perfect his technique in vice-grip and bubble-beam, Ash had gone ahead and imbued him with the _ice-beam_ TM he had gotten from Cerulean gym, leaving him on his own to practice the move after that. With Charmander and Bagon already engrossed in their own job, and Pidgeotto and Poliwhirl sent to Professor Oak for inspection, Ash had quite the free time in his hands. He had spent the entirety of the day going through the pokémon league guidebook, trying to look over the move sets that his pokémon were capable of learning, while checking on Crawdaunt every now and then.

That was when he had received a call from Professor Oak, and by extension, his mother, who was accompanying the professor in his lab.

As expected, Ash had asked him to send some of his pokémon back so that he might continue their training, to which, the professor had asked him the unusual question.

Why was Ash in such a _hurry_?

Needless to say, the trainer from Pallet had answered it with a blank stare which the old professor matched with his own.

"Look Ash, I understand your wish of completing the Indigo Circuit as quickly as you can, but you need to enjoy life as well."

Ash looked at him, dumbfounded. "I'm enjoying life."

"Yeah?" His mother, who was standing beside the professor, raised an eyebrow. "Pray tell, what _exactly_ have you done ever since you started out on your journey?"

"I-" Ash opened his mouth to answer.

"Except catching pokémon, training and battling." Delia added swiftly.

"….." Ash closed his mouth. Thinking about it for a second, he addressed her. "I spent some time at Bill's lighthouse."

"To get help for your charmander. And he's a researcher, and a senior one at that. Show him some respect." Delia admonished.

"But he told me to call him Bill." Ash retorted.

"So?"

"…." Ash couldn't find what to use as a counter-argument. "Either way, this trip is going to be exciting. It will extend for a while, so there, you got me having fun."

"Yes, _remember_ that the trip is for having _fun,_ not just battling your way around." Delia deadpanned.

"Uh… sure." Ash answered, a slight hesitation leaking through his tone. Ever since his journey began, his experiences had only increased his attraction towards the mysteries of pokémon, and his urge to become a powerful trainer had grown by leaps and bounds. So, why was that a bad thing?

"Ash," It was Oak this time. "Cerulean city is one of the top tourist spots in Kanto. Hundreds of people visit there, just as tourists. Even Gary spent five days there."

"Oh." Now that he thought of it, all he had done was visit the Pokémon center, treat his pokémon, and then go challenge the gym. Even after his initial defeat, he had spent the rest of the day training his pokémon to do better, get to the pokemart, buy stuff, only to get back to the gym and finish the challenge. He hadn't even spent time with Misty, despite her being such a help to him for the gym battle. Immediately after that, he had begun on his way to Vermillion city.

And he had done the very same here as well. If not for the St. Anne's match, he would be perhaps in Celadon already, trying to challenge the gym leader.

"Ash, it has just been almost three weeks at most, and you already have three badges." Oak tried.

"Gary had already gotten one in ten days." Ash retorted automatically.

"Yes, _one_ in ten days." Oak returned. "One, and he drives around in a convertible. You, on the other hand, have been on foot. To be honest, I was shocked that you already have two badges under your belt when you called me from Bill's lighthouse."

"Well, I do need to defeat Gary." Ash looked away, not at all happy with how the discussion was turning out to be.

"And also have a satisfying journey at the end of it, Ash." Delia stressed from beside. "You need just five more badges, and the Indigo Conference is ten months away. You can _afford_ to enjoy life as well, Ash."

"Yeah, but-"

"Yes?"

"Never mind." Ash knew a lost argument when he saw one. Besides, his mother and the professor did have a point. He still had three days in hand, and that was enough time to look around."

 _But that would mean losing the three days of practice that I could've gotten._

"Ash?" It was Oak.

"Yeah?" He replied in a low voice.

"Why _exactly_ did you begin your journey?"

"Because I-" Ash stopped midway. The answer should've been there, ready at his lips. All his life he had awaited this very journey, looking forward to it, even deciding and making plans about all the different kinds of pokémon he would catch, the places he would go, the-

 _What was the point behind it again? Why am I…. doing this?_

Before he had acquired the trainer's license, it had always been about beating Gary. Gary, the bully. Gary, the person who always fought against him. Gary, the grandson of Professor Oak. Gary, who had challenged him on the face that he would take the Indigo League trophy, and leave Ash in the dust. Gary, who-

It did not matter. Not now anyway. Ever since he had… had that accident with the Pikachu in Oak's place, things had, changed, or perhaps that should be _shifted,_ in priority. Sure, he was comatose for three days or so, but something had… _permanently shifted_ in him, and he didn't know what it was. It was like… an _emptiness_ inside him, one that he was obsessively trying to fill in. The encounter with Derrick and his metagross, the fury of the legendary ice-king, or the king Dragonite for that matter, and lastly Paul, it had left an irremovable effect on his mind.

 _Power is a state of mind._

" _ **You shouldn't have existed…."**_

His lack of proper sleep, the disturbing dreams, all of that had had an effect on him, and Ash had tackled that in the only way that had appealed to him.

 _Train harder. Catch pokémon. Win badges. Get stronger. Repeat._

A vicious circle, and he was getting obsessed with it. But did he want to leave that? Where would that leave him?

 _At least with this, I have a purpose._

 _A purpose… is that what this is about? Is that what I'm looking for? Would my existence be worth it without a purpose? Was that why…..?_

" _ **You shouldn't have existed…."**_

"A… purpose." Ash's lips spoke up, almost on their own. The lack of emotion in his own voice surprised him. "The reason for this journey is to find my purpose."

He wasn't sure what it was about his answer that had seemingly stumped his mother. Even the old professor seemed to be looking at him… strangely, almost as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"Ash…" Oak replied in a strange tone. "What _exactly_ aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing." Ash lied. "Nothing at all."

* * *

The trip to the Vermillion coast had been a solitary one. With Harrison being out of reach, Ash had no one to talk to, and literally no place to go, so on a whim, he had trudged his way back to the coast. By a strange twist of luck, none of his pokémon (those he had on him anyway) were long walkers. Bagon would probably get tired after walking for fifteen minutes or so. The baby dragon's physiology was strange that way. The muscles of his limbs allowed him a quick sprint over short intervals of time, but a long-drawn out solitary walk would drain him out faster than imagination. Charmander, if not for his frail condition, could have fit the deal. At least, the constant use of draconic powers, and his complete lapse of inner-flame usage had begun to show somewhat… positive effects on the little fire-lizard. Bagon's constant presence and lack of judgement had helped too.

Crawdaunt was certainly not an option. Not now anyway.

He found himself a nice little place in the sand, making sure that he wouldn't be drenched by sudden tides. Plucking his pokeball out, he released his starter, as the baby dragon looked around, and finding no one, settled down beside him, nudging his leg with his hard-as-steel head.

"What is it, Bagon?"

The baby dragon gave him a questioning look, as if asking the reason why he had called him out.

"You want to know why I brought you out. Is that it?"

Bagon grunted in agreement.

 _Even my pokémon seem to think that all I care about is training. About that-_

He plucked out the other pokeball and released Charmander, who let out a soft grunt before relaxing against him, his tail flame burning brightly.

 _At least he's a little happier than before._

"Bagon, Charmander… I thought we could you know… just spend some time and talk."

Both draconic species gave him a questioning look.

Ash snorted. "You know, before I met you, Bagon, "he gave the baby dragon a meaningful look, "before I even begun this journey, I was mad after getting a Charmander as my starter."

Charmander squeaked in surprise, though Bagon looked slightly… offended.

Ash gave a sad smile. "I was… I was crazy about dragons. Charizards in particular, since dragons are so rare. I used to want having an entire team of them, breathing fire."

He paused for a moment.

"I was so mad, when Professor Oak told me that I'd not be able to get a Charmander, and if I really wanted one, I'd have to wait for a long while."

The expression on Bagon's face shifted to that of curiosity.

"So the professor told me that I could either wait for it, or get started on another starter."

Bagon felt the sudden impulse to look away, since from Ash's words, he was simply an afterthought.

"—and he brought me to a Pikachu."

That perked Bagon's ears. _A Pikachu?_ Ash didn't have one of those rodents in his team. He would know.

Ash snorted. "Well, he was a crazy little one, biting the wires and sucking electricity from professor's lab. So me, being the idiot that I was, went ahead and tried to convince it to join me as my starter."

Bagon and Charmander both widened their eyes, as it struck them.

"Pikachu literally electrocuted me." Ash snorted again. "It would be funny, except that I almost died. I was in a coma… I mean, totally unconscious, for like three days or something, and even after I woke up, I was quite weak in the beginning."

Bagon could attest to that. His earliest memories of Ash were the human sitting on his bed.

"And then Professor Oak told me that I could also have a dragon, and then I got you." Ash smiled, caressing the baby dragon who felt an incessant desire to rub his head against his trainer's leg. "I was so happy. I finally had my dragon, the starter I dreamt of. It might not have been Charmander, but it was you, a real dragon. I was very happy."

He paused. "Though… I'll admit, that it didn't quench my desire to have a charmander of my own." He looked up at Bagon's inquisitive eyes. "Come to think of it, I've been a horrible trainer. Getting myself such a wonderful starter, and yet, having second thoughts about another. I'd hate me if I were you."

Personally, Bagon thought that his trainer was being overly sentimental. He was a draconic being, and dragons only chose the most powerful as their leader, since they themselves were powerful in their own right. He knew quite well that compared with the fire-lizard, Bagon had been initially a lot limited. It was kind of… obvious why Ash would want a charmander. He didn't have to like it, but he agreed with it. His draconic pride wouldn't allow him any less.

"So I thought that you deserve an apology."

Bagon nuzzled into his leg, making Ash snort.

"You know, you are rather progressive about this forgiveness thing." He snorted again, caressing his starter. Charmander too, he observed, had pushed himself a little closer to him. "I know your greatest ambition is to fly, soaring through the sky as a powerful Salamence. Seeing your dedication at that, jumping off cliffs like that, I wonder if that is what having a purpose feels like."

Bagon couldn't comprehend his trainer's words, so he decided that he was just being praised. With a soft purr, he rested his head on Ash's lap.

Ash turned to his other pokémon. "When I saw you on the rocks, Charmander," he began, as the fire-lizard widened his eyes, listening to his trainer. "I was- I was happy, sad, enraged, confused… I don't really know what I was feeling back then. All those wishes of me having a Charmander as a starter, all those feelings of being cheated when professor oak told me that I might not get one at all, all those memories came back with full force. Here were you, a Charmander, injured, alone and almost dying, deserted by your trainer, and on the other hand, I had always wanted one, and never got any… I thought it was terribly unfair. I thought you deserved better."

Charmander just looked at his trainer with his large eyes.

"Like you, I too have never really seen my father. I know he's there, somewhere, but I've never known him. I guess… both of us are alike like that."

"I know you've been through a lot, Charmander, but I do not want you to judge me or my friends in terms of Damien." He paused, looking at the two of them, "I meant it, you know. Both of you, I will always be there for you, and look out for you. You can trust me on that."

Charmander gave out a long and drawn-out 'chaar' while Bagon grunted appreciatively.

"I know that in the future, I will be catching more pokémon, and I might not always be able to relate with each and every one of them. I'll need your help in that matter. I will-"

He looked down, and found that both of his pokémon had their heads rested on his lap, and were almost asleep.

He snorted. A part of him reminded himself that he should get himself an early return to catch up with training, but no amount of that could convince him to wake those two pokémon from his lap.

He smiled to himself. Maybe a _little more_ rest wouldn't be _that_ bad after all.


	7. Inspection

**Commerce City. Midnight.**

The lights gleamed bright in the central tower, as the entire plant functioned, its giant turbines running, roaring like some apocryphal creature, generating vast amounts of power, one that had always been the lifeline of Commerce City, and by extension, the main fuel for all sixteen cities in the vicinity, all the way to Cinnabar Island. Usually the offices would be deserted by seven in the evening, with the last of the workers emptying the place by ten. Tonight however, the lights in the office of the Manager glowed brightly, despite it being almost ten in the night, the sign outside his chamber displaying 'BUSY', as he served as an audience for one of the most intimidating people in Kanto.

"As you can understand, Mr. Levonsky, My partner and I are in dire need of this solution, and we sincerely hope to go ahead with this… acquisition without unnecessary trouble."

The man, known to all as the reclusive gym leader of Viridian, sat back, his head casually inclined towards the other man in the room, seated beside him. Strangely he had a large hood covering most of his face, with the exception of a heavily-chiselled greyish chin, devoid of any facial hair. The stranger had been sitting silent on the chair for the entire duration, giving Levonsky the impression of either being too frail or someone who didn't make a single movement without need. Levonsky didn't know which was more incongruous.

"Mr. _Giovanni,"_ The manager, a blonde-haired man of forty-six, answered, keeping a sideward glance at the other man's oddly silent associate, I understand that someone of your stature wouldn't just do things on a mere whim, but the Power Plant is the _only_ source for the nearby regions. With all the power directed towards…" his eyes flickered towards the equipment placed a dozen feet away, "—the equipment would cause a lot of trouble, even if it is merely for a day?"

"I seem to remember that power might be cut off from time to time, in order to conduct… turbine maintenance, Mr. Levonsky. Believe me, I'm the Gym leader of my city and thus, go through all the stipulations myself."

"Then surely as Gym leader, you understand that cutting off power would cause a lot of distress amongst the Pokémon centers and hospitals. Should the League consider it, they might as well send someone for verification. I'd lose my job in an instant should that happen." The manager returned, feeling rather uncomfortable about agreeing to the meeting in the first place.

Giovanni let out a sigh. "I urge you to think of it as an acceptable risk in a…. business venture of sorts. My… equipment will go a long way in making my venture successful. I assure you, the benefits you'd gain from this would greatly outweigh the acceptable risk."

"What sort of venture requires you to… forgive me for being blunt, _eat_ away power enough to fuel seventeen cities for a day?" He paused, looking at the equipment with distaste, "—and for the life of me, I cannot figure out how that tiny thing can keep its parts together after consuming that much power."

Giovanni chortled. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There seems to be a misunderstanding. That thing wouldn't consume the power. It is built more along the lines of… acting like a conduit to transfer all that power."

 _A conduit to transfer that much electrical power? Into what?_ The manager couldn't help but think. "Even so, I honestly cannot agree to your request. Please forgive me."

Giovanni snorted again. "And here I was thinking that we would be able to come to a peaceful conclusion." He stood up, brushing off imaginary dust from his impeccable suit. "Very well, I'll have to approach things more _directly,_ as my partner is fond of doing."

 _Directly?_ The manager felt uneasiness growing within him, as the stranger stood up from his seat, his face still covered by the hood.

 _ **I assure you, this will be quick and painless.**_ Levonsky paled, as he heard the ominous voice in his mind, as the stranger lifted his hood, as the lights in the office room flickered for a moment.

Not a single worker left the Power Plant that night.

* * *

 **Vermillion city, Pokémon center.**

"How could this be happening? Commerce City always has twenty percent of its production directed to Vermillion. That's how it has been for decades." Nurse Joy admonished.

The police official, a certain Gasper Michaels, took a step back. The pink-haired nurse had always been a rather no-nonsense type, everyone in the city could vouch for that. However, it certainly didn't make facing her any less intimidating.

"Please Ma'am, try to understand. We are not authorized to enter the main power generation plant, and the Manager is certainly not being forthcoming. I have checked with the agreement between the power plant and the League, and according to that, there can be shortage of power because of turbine maintenance, although the shortage could continue to a maximum of two days."

"Shortage of power, yes. _No power_ , certainly not." The nurse retorted, "and God help you if you want to convince me that all the _three_ turbines, which are run by hundreds of Magnemite and Magneton, and are separated into _three_ distinct divisions of the power plant, have all _broken down_ at the same time."

"Uh… actually from our sources, the water is still flowing in, which means-"

"The turbines are functioning." The nurse deduced.

"Um… yes." Michaels agreed hesitantly. "However, there is no output generated despite that. The Manager has issued an official statement, making it to be some kind of…interior malfunctioning, which will be solved in another day or so."

"If the turbines are working, where is the power going?"

"We do not know, Ma'am. It's strange, and almost like something is soaking up all the power from the turbines." Gasper replied, his face hung low.

"The plant provides power to seventeen cities, Officer Michaels." Nurse Joy scoffed. "No machine cannot soak in that much power for itself. What is Officer Jenny doing? I need that arse of a manager under arrest and questioned."

"I understand Madam but-"

Nurse Joy wasn't done speaking yet. She stepped forward and held the officer by his tie. "Listen to me, Officer Michaels. This is Vermillion city, and I have dozens of injured pokémon since last night, and none of them are able to receive proper treatment because of the power failure. I am very desperate right now, and you _do not want_ me desperate."

Michaels swallowed.

"I need power back in less than an hour. Get it?" her eyes seemed to glow with anger, as she directed all her intimidation on the poor official, who looked like he was about to faint in a minute, should this continue. Suddenly pushing the man back, she let go of his tie, allowing the intimidated man to fall down on the ground.

The moment Michaels saw his chance, he instantly sped off, not wanting to be the victim of the ruthless nurse of Vermillion city.

The pink-haired woman saw the sad excuse of an officer speed away, letting out a frustrated sigh. True to her words, the center was devoid of power since midnight, and the injured pokémon weren't getting the treatment they deserved. Sure, she could manage to counter the more extreme cases with backup power, but she needed the main supply to be back and functioning.

She took a glance at the lobby, where trainers were sitting, their faces worried about their injured pokémon.

 _I will be getting a reprimand for this…_

Despite of that probability, she knew that she would have to act, and act soon. If the police weren't ready to bring that manager to his senses, she would have to ensure that someone did it for her. Switching on the telephone on her help desk, she dialled a number.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

"Power failure? For this long?" Ash accused. "I'm from a small town, and even there, we didn't have such problems."

Harrison looked away in frustration. He had had a good two-day training session with his pokémon, and had expended all of his full-restores on them, when he had heard about the sudden power failure all across the city. After checking in with the Pokémon center, he had come straight to the hotel, where he had met a rather irritated Ash Ketchum.

"I know. Extended power problems like this aren't exactly… normal. I visited the pokémon center earlier in the morning before returning, and Nurse Joy was in a very bad mood."

"And?"

"Let's just say that she was very… furious with the power plant manager, and leave it at that." Harrison paused. "Apparently, there are dozens of pokémon that need treatment and are unable to do so because of lack of power."

Ash looked concerned. He wasn't sure what he would do had it been his own pokémon that were injured and needing treatment in such a situation. He looked at his wrist, at the little Xtransceiver, wondering if he could use to send the injured pokémon to Professor Oak's lab. But then-

"Why didn't Nurse Joy transport them to some other center?" He asked.

Harrison looked up. "Apparently Commerce City Power Plant supplies power to seventeen cities in Kanto region. _Everyone_ is suffering from this problem."

"So why isn't the League doing anything?"

Harrison shook his head. "The League cannot just interfere anywhere and everywhere, Ash. The power plant manager has claimed some kind of malfunctioning issue, which should be addressed in a day or two. With that kind of statement, even the League has its hands tied."

"But the pokémon-"

"Every center does have emergency power, Ash." Harrison advised. "Besides, it's only a matter of-"

"What if it isn't solved by another day? What happens to those pokémon?" Ash fumed.

Harrison sighed. "I understand where you're coming from, Ash. Believe me, I do. But what exactly can we do in this situation?"

"We can go to Commerce city to investigate what happened."

"Why?" Harrison questioned. "It might just be a matter of pure mechanical malfunction. Maybe we are just worrying in vain and the system will start up in an hour or something?"

"What if it doesn't?" Ash retorted.

"You sure are paranoid today."

Ash ignored the subtle dig. "Are you helping me or not?"

Harrison raised an eyebrow. 'You do know right that entering into privatized property is a serious crime?"

"Only if we are _caught_ entering." Ash muttered.

Harrison took a step back. "Do I really want to know what's going on in that anarchic mind of yours?"

The grin on the black-haired trainer's face did nothing to help his nerves.

* * *

Students involved in Fire Stone research know that the Growlithe species do not necessarily _evolve_ upon coming in contact with the evolutionary stone. The process is a little more… complicated than that. As per analysis, it is found that a ten-year-old Growlithe, is easily able to perform almost _each and every move_ than an Arcanine can, without even resulting to evolution. Then what exactly are the differences between the two forms? The answer to that is puzzling, and yet, equally fascinating.

According to statistics, most Growlithe, upon maturing their _inner-flame_ to a certain degree, known as the Rippler Mark, begin to _automatically synthesize_ a genetic material that adds to their original DNA. It has been observed that this new _addendum_ is what constitutes the entire genetic constitution of the Arcanine species, and is responsible for Arcanine having the move set and abilities that they do. Thus, it is entirely possible, that should a growlithe negate the offer of evolution, and instead, stay on as a Growlithe, sooner or later his genetic constitution would have absorbed enough of this… addendum to grant Growlithe all of Arcanine's move set without having to evolve into one. Professor Birch of Hoenn region is regarded as one of the foremost experts on this subject.

However, it is seen that should a growlithe manage to mature his _inner-flame_ past the _Ripper Mark_ , _within a span of three years_ since birth, and then brought into contact with the Fire stone, then a biochemical reaction occurs within them, with the fire stone acting as a catalyst, amplifying the production of the _addendum_ a million-fold, enough for the addendum to literally become the _new_ genetic constitution, giving rise to a completely new species, known as the Arcanine. One, which is much larger than adult Growlithe can ever hope to be, and faster beyond imagination, able to cross past six thousand miles in a single day, should they want it to be. Also, it is noted that Arcanine do have _inner-flames,_ at least twice as much as an adult Growlithe could ever hope to have, bringing them to the same level as that of a standard Magmortar. There is after all, a reason why Arcanine are still considered pseudo-legendary in many parts of the world.

Thus, it shouldn't be at all surprising, that Ash and Harrison were able to reach the Commerce City Power Plant in less than half an hour, their ride being none other than Harrison's Arcanine himself.

The first thing that came to Ash's mind was how frickin' huge the entire plant was. The entire place, seemed to have been built upon an area larger than Mount Moon, encompassing more than half of the entire city. Yet, for some reason, there were no sounds coming from the entire plant, only a dull, eerie silence, and the constant grinding sound which Ash guessed were coming from the motions of the turbines.

"All right, Arcanine. Get yourself some rest." Harrison returned his powerful fire-type back into his pokeball, before turning to Ash. "So, Mr. Detective, where do we go next?"

Ash scowled. "I don't know. Maybe see around a bit? Where are the turbines anyway?"

"Hear that noise?" Harrison asked, as Ash nodded. "That's from the turbines running. I've have a tiny hydroelectric project close to home, the procedure is similar."

"The sounds are coming from everywhere." Ash retorted, absently rubbing his forehead at the signs of a rising headache.

"Reverberation at being in close quarters." Harrison replied. "We are looking for laboratories closer to the dam, though I wonder, if the turbines are running, why isn't the entire place lighted?"

"Something more than that." Ash put in. "Have you noticed? We didn't meet a single person on our way here."

He was right. Despite Arcanine's speed, it was clear that the entire estate was almost empty. Either that, or the people had suddenly decided to shut in, and stay inside their homes. The entire place looked like a dead city.

"Reminds me of those zombie anime I used to watch as a kid," Harrison joked, "in which people turn into zombies and then kill more people, leading to a zombie invasion."

Ash, impassive, just looked around. "Maybe we should start from there?" He pointed towards the geodesic dome-like edifice at a distance, absently rubbing his eyebrows as he felt a slight twinge on his head growing.

"Want to split up?" The brown-haired trainer offered. "We could search better that way."

"Not worried about your zombie invasion?" Ash retorted, laughing at the other boy's scowl. "Just kidding. I guess I'll take this way and you can go through that one. Maybe we can meet somewhere in the center of something."

"And if you need help?"

"Uhm… I'll send Pidgeotto, if I need aid."

Harrison raised an eyebrow. 'I thought she was back at the coral."

Ash slightly shifted his left hand, as Harrison widened his eyes. "I… see, that's pretty useful."

"You can say that again."

* * *

 **Half an hour later…**

Ash was still walking through the seemingly empty complex (with the exception of the sounds of the turbines), with a finger constantly rubbing his left eyebrow, where the initial twinge had now taken the shape of a massive headache. He had gotten himself a couple of pain relievers but nothing, it seemed, seemed to put a stop to the pounding headache, which seemed to be growing by the minute.

 _What the hell is happening?_

He had already crossed the basement, which was unsurprisingly, empty, though the switches were still on. The main door, surprisingly, was open. He walked past it, past the empty guard stand, past the technical laboratories, all of which, seemed to be lighted, and yet, completely empty. Even the entrances were unguarded. Had he been a thief, he wouldn't have to lift a finger to steal everything out of this place. Without the lights on the ceiling working on emergency power, the entire place would've been jet dark. Even then, it didn't stop the entire place from having an ominous look.

 _Where are all the people?_

On a whim, he pressed against the edge of one of the doors, before talking a single step into the room, if only to have a look at the instruments the workers used.

That, was a mistake.

The moment, he put a single step within the lab, instantly all power in the basement completely got cut down, inundating the entire place with darkness. The hairs on the back of his neck raised all of a sudden, and call it sixth sense or not, but Ash instantly ducked, as a sizzling stream of yellowish electricity splattered into the room, right past where his head might have been a few seconds ago.

 _What the hell was that?_

Instantly, he turned on his back, and got up, releasing Metang out of his pokeball. He had gotten all of his pokémon back from the coral before leaving for this investigation, and Metang was the best bet if he was facing a rogue electric-type. However, much to his chagrin, there was nothing to be seen, neither ahead, nor in the air. It was almost like the electrical discharge had shot out at him from nowhere.

 _What's with electric types and their wish to electrocute me?_

While pokémon training was indeed, dangerous business, and all trainers who got their trainee license understood it very well, Ash's initial meet with Pikachu, who was supposed to be his starter, had somewhat… shattered his views on the subject. Of course, he could understand that pokémon were, after all said and done, primal creatures at heart. However, the near-death experience had left him feeling slightly… averse to the electric-type as a whole, the feeling at its strongest when it came to the Pikachu-line.

 _Maybe I should just catch an electric-type, if sorely for vengeance._

Professor Oak had mentioned that Pikachu had been sent to Fuchsia Safari, a place that he himself wanted to visit at some point. As of now, the St. Anne's tournament- _and having fun -_ -he added mentally, was higher in priority. Besides, he already had seven pokémon, and none of them were fully evolved.

On second thought, Crawdaunt didn't really count. While the crustacean was fully evolved already, he still needed to up his game by a lot before he could be a battler for his main team. Till then, Poliwhirl was a better and safer choice, though against psychic types, Crawdaunt would probably be a better choice.

He casually observed the iron claw pokémon hovering all around him. From what the professor had mentioned, Metang seemed to have taken the will to train himself rough a little too seriously. The little thing had apparently made Oak's Alakazam feel his age.

"Metang, use Flash." He commanded, a small smile on his face as the iron claw pokémon suddenly began to glow with a soft white light. "We are in unknown territory right now. Attack anything that seems even slightly hostile. Don't hold back."

Metang made an odd sound in agreement, as it floated all around the place, making sure not to be more than five feet away from its trainer. Shutting its eyes, it concentrated its energies, and when ready, blasted them radially outward. The technique, originally invented by Professor Oak and his Alakazam, was called _Supersensory,_ and comparable to SONAR, only this one involved psychic waves travelling outward, getting Metang a good enough estimation about the type of pokémon, and the distance of separation.

 _Chunk of steel. Electricity. Twenty feet. Larger chunk. Electricity. A hundred and thirty one feet. Human. Human. Something like poison. More things like poison. Electricity. Human…. Is that a-?_

Before Metang could complete that thought, another stream of electricity came sizzling through the air, with the iron claw pokémon managing to deflect the attack just in time. It swooped closer to Ash, letting out a mechanical groan of warning, as the trainer quickly plucked Bagon's pokeball out.

Another flash of lightning, as Ash jumped to his right, noticing his attacker for the first time, in the dim light thanks to Metang's Flash ability. At first sight, it seemed like a floating, metallic ball with an eye in the centre, and two U-shaped magnets on either end. Noticing further, he found another one that seemed to be a combination of three of the former, held together.

 **Magnemite. The magnet pokémon. Magnemite floats in the air by emitting electromagnetic waves from the units at its sides. These waves block gravity. This Pokémon becomes incapable of flight if its internal electrical supply is depleted. They gather in places where electricity is available. They can be found clinging to the steel towers used to support power lines.**

 **Magneton. This is the evolved form of Magnemite. Magneton emits a powerful magnetic force that is fatal to mechanical devices. As a result, large cities sound sirens to warn citizens of large-scale outbreaks of this Pokémon.**

Ash ignored Dexter's mechanical oration, as he pushed himself a couple of steps back to avoid another electrical discharge, as he yelled, "Metang, use metal claw on them!" He saw the iron claw pokémon try his best, but the magnet pokémon were rather quick at dodging.

 _Steel/electric-type. Metang wouldn't really be that useful in this case. Let's try this._ "Rhyhorn! Bagon!" He yelled, switching pokeballs, "I need your help."

With a flash of red light, rhyhorn was up and standing on the concrete floor, letting out a grunt, as he glared at the magnet pokémon hovering above him. Almost in reaction, the magnet pokémon sent out another discharge of electricity towards the ground type, who just brushed it off like an afterthought. Beside him, Ash's starter pokémon materialized, glaring at the magneton.

 _This might not be a good idea. Rhyhorn aren't known for their ability in the dark._

"Metang, maximum Flash. Bagon, use Ember! Rhyhorn, use flamethrower!" Ash commanded, knowing very well that rhyhorn's flamethrower was hardly at a level to cause actually damage to the part-steel type pokémon. Hopefully, the attack could be used to create a smokescreen for him to escape. Worse came to worse, he could always try capturing the Magneton inside a pokeball, and escape. At least the pokeball would hold back the thing for a while.

"Bagon, now use Zen head-butt!"

Bagon pushed himself off the ground, aiming straight at the magneton as he slammed his head into it, making the magneton further slam into the magnemite as both of them fell down to the floor.

 _That was unexpectedly easy._

"Rock tomb!" Ash ordered, gaining a little more confidence. Rhyhorn slammed his forelimbs onto the floor, creating crevices as the floor broke open, with large concrete fragments burst out of the floor.

'Now use earthquake!" Ash went on, "Bagon, jump up and use Zen head-butt again on Magneton."

The plan was nicely executed. The moment rhyhorn used earthquake, Bagon jumped off the ground, saving himself from suffering the effects of the seismic waves, which hit the magnet pokémon directly. Changing his momentum in mid-air, Bagon slammed into magneton once again, sending the electric-type tumbling away.

 _Yes._ Ash thought, as he plucked out an empty pokeball and threw it at the magneton, the ball touching it with a loud sound, as magneton got sucked into it.

 _That should do it. Maybe even- fuck!_

The ball wiggled for a while, before it threw its upper lid open, releasing Magneton. A very, very infuriated Magneton. Its three magnets shone brightly before it released a bright beam of light— _Zap Cannon,_ Ash realized- which shot angrily towards Ash, only to be intercepted by a psychic barrier hastily raised by Metang before it could hit Ash in the face.

"…." Ash spoke, his face pale, escaping what could possibly be near-death by inches. His next words remained unheard as Rhyhorn let out a veritable grunt in anger, swung his neck and ran towards the Magneton, tackling it with a powerful horn attack, sending Magneton tumbling away, screeching as it did. Its mechanical screeches brought clusters of magnemite all around them, their magnets glowing menacingly as they all prepared for a powerful attack.

"Magnet—mite!" The magnet pokémon cluster roared in unison, as the collective beam of pure electricity slammed into the charging rhyhorn, pushing him back with a humongous force. Rhyhorn however, it seemed, would not be defeated as he kept on grunting and pushing forward, ignoring the stream of electricity flooding its body, more than what its typing could afford to save him from.

"Rhyhorn!" Ash cried in horror. "Metang, help-"

It was unnecessary. In the middle of the collective zap cannon attack, rhyhorn, it seemed, was glowing. His rocky structure turned into an ebbing white light, before it condensed and began to morph into a larger, bipedal form, one that was at least a foot taller than Ash, with its initially tiny tail protruding outward with a more conical appearance. When the bright light had receded, there stood in front of Ash, the powerful rock-hard creature, with its frontal region encased with a thick layer of steel, and its horn grown longer and sharper, with the appearance of a drill.

 _Rhydon._ Ash breathed.

Rhydon let put a roar, and stomped down onto the concrete floor, with a power so great that it shattered, as dozens of concrete fragments shot up, pushed by the seismic waves of the powerful earthquake attack, as Rhydon swerved its long, shiny tail to the fragments, banishing them towards the floating magnemite cluster. Powerful and loaded with electricity they might be, but the momentum of the banished concrete was too much for them to resist, as they fell onto the ground, as did the Magneton who had summoned them. Rhydon however, was far from finished. With another guttural roar, he stomped its way towards the now slightly disoriented Magneton, and slammed a powerful fist into its spherical body.

 _Hammer arm._ Ash realized with a wince, looking at the condition of the Magneton, now completely fallen on the ground, disoriented. He almost, almost felt pity for the electric-type.

Rhydon let out a roar of primal fury, before turning back and staring at Ash in the face.

For the first time in his life, Ash Ketchum felt fear while standing in front of his pokémon. It wasn't like he had been dealing with an evolved pokémon for the first time. Heck, Pidgeotto, and Metang were already in their secondary stage. He had captured Crawdaunt, who was literally a fully-evolved pokémon.

Rhydon however, was different. With their evolution from rhyhorn, rhydon developed a little more brain function, but at the same time, their physical strength magnified by several degrees. The resultant of the two was that Rhydon were much more… primal, than Rhyhorn or even, their final evolution, Rhyperior. It was exactly why it was so difficult to train the species, since a lot of trainers lost their lives because Rhydon went out of control and began its rampage.

Rhydon took a single step towards Ash, his eyes having that strange, maniacal glint that was feared by masses, as his trainer began to wonder if Rhydon was about to attack him or not. However, Rhydon just stared at his trainer, who stared back, his face a little more pale than usual.

Then, he gave a grunt and nodded towards the fallen Magneton, before nodding again towards Ash, who seemed to get his reference, and let out a sigh.

"You- want me to catch that Magneton?" Ash asked cautiously.

Rhydon grunted in agreement once again.

A thin, wary smile formed on Ash's face, as he looked at the now destroyed pokeball on the ground, before plucking out another empty ball and tossing it toward the Magneton, sucking it instantly. The ball wiggled for a moment, before it settled with the classic 'ding'.

 _And just like that,_ Ash thought cynically, _I caught a Magneton._ He took a moment to digest the entire absurdity of what had just happened, before shaking his head to throw away the slightly disoriented feeling. The headache was only worsening matters. Taking a step forward, he extended his right hand forward, touching Rhydon's rocky arm, to which Rhydon uttered a grunt, making Ash step back in hesitation. The great creature, a little surprised at his trainer's hesitation, simply took a step forward and touched Ash's hand with his horn, almost in a gesture of faith towards his trainer.

Ash smiled.

"Thank you, Rhydon." He muttered, smiling as he did. "I am glad that you still trust me as a capable trainer, even after I wasn't able to help you against the magnemite." He cast a glance at the fallen magnemite on the ground, before looking directly at his evolved ground-type. "Do you want to return to your pokeball?"

Rhydon gave another grunt, shaking his head.

"Want to roam around on two legs, do you?" Ash quipped, pulling his hand away. He turned back to see Bagon staring at his evolved friend. "Someday you will evolve too, Bagon."

The baby dragon screeched in agreement.

"Do you want me to return you?"

With another nod, Bagon jumped off the ground, as Ash sucked him back into his pokeball. Turning towards the still-levitating Metang beside him, he replied, "Let's get going."

* * *

 **Meanwhile on the other end.**

"Arcanine, use flamethrower!" Harrison ordered, as the great fiery beast let out a roar and expunged out hot flames from its jaws towards the invading mass of sludge and poison gas. "Careful, it might be explosive." He warned, as he took a step back.

The entire corridor had been a one-way, and now he was trapped with no exit, except one, and that was from where he had just run in from, followed by vile masses of sludge, dirt, and poison, given life as a pokémon known as Grimer. Some of the Grimer in the back seemed to be much larger in size, and in all possibility, were probably their evolved forms.

 _Shit!_ Harrison cursed. _Where's Ash's pokedex when you need one? That blasted thing would've been rather useful here._ "Arcanine, worst comes to worst, use flare blitz and we fight our way out."

Arcanine woofed, his angry eyes glaring at the entire colony of Grimer and Muk slowly pushing towards them menacingly. The great dog belched out another stream of raging flames but the hordes of sludge belched out by the Grimer were more than a better match against it.

Harrison cursed under his breath. Only powerful psychic-types or steel-types would be of any use in this case. From his vantage point, he could see what seemed to be an ever-increasing horde of these sludge pokémon getting close to them. If he didn't do something instantly, they would overwhelm him easily.

"Arcan-"

The rest of his words stayed in his throat, as two powerful wings, each glowing bright silver, severed its way through the poisonous sludge, the sheer force of the attack swathing the grimer right and left, creating a way in the middle. As the creature drew near, Harrison realized what it was.

 _A Skarmory? Here?_

"Quick, get out of there!" An unfamiliar voice yelled, distracting Harrison, as he looked ahead, seeing a stranger stand there, with a pokeball in hand. Then, the stranger threw up another pokémon. "Go, Aggron!"

Harrison watched in amazement as Aggron, the final evolution of Aron, a pokémon found in Hoenn, stood at the end of the corridor. The absolute monster looked slightly draconic in physique, with iron plates and horns covering its entire musculature. The feral beast let out a roar, before it began rampaging its way through the hordes of Grimer and Muk, banishing them away with single sweeps of its limbs and tail. Harrison silently wondered just how _outstanding_ the trainer must be, to have an _Aggron_ of all pokémon follow his every command without question.

"Coming out any day now would be good." The stranger snapped. "I swear I don't have the time or the intention to stand and fight these… trash all day."

On any other day, he would have snapped back about the way the stranger referred to the poison pokémon. Today however, Harrison couldn't find it in him, especially not after the other guy had just helped him out of what could possibly turn into a horrific and _smelly_ death out of asphyxiation. Not wasting another moment, he ran out, followed by Arcanine towards the stranger who seemed to be getting more annoyed by the minute.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Last I knew this town is completely devoid of people since yesterday." The stranger accused.

"I, uh, well a friend of mine suggested we could go and see what's wrong with the power failure. Nurse Joy told us that-"

"Joy sent you here?" The stranger narrowed his eyes. "I thought I was the only one hired for the job."

"Hired?" Harrison tried to keep up, as it hit him. "No, we weren't hired or anything of that sort. We, that's me and my friend were just here to see if there was something wrong."

"Obviously." The stranger sneered. "Like to play cop, eh?"

"Not really, but is that a problem?" Harrison retorted, clearly getting agitated by the stranger's attitude. "Who are you, by the way?"

"Paul." The other guy answered, as Harrison took in his features. "Where's this friend of yours then?"

"He's… "Harrison considered his words, "somewhere, I guess. We took different routes to the tower."

"Hero syndrome." Paul sneered, as if Harrison had mentioned something contagious and obnoxious. "Let's hope he makes out of this alive, then."

"Yeah…" Harrison muttered, glancing back at the guy. "I'm Harrison, and well, thanks for saving me from those Grimer by the way."

"That trash has a name?" Paul sneered again, before looking towards the other end and stepping forward. "If you are planning on staying, then come with me. Else, get on that dog of yours and race your arse back to Vermillion."

"I… can't." Harrison answered, "I have to find Ash."

Paul pointed towards the turbine chamber. "Fully functioning, and yes, I checked them. The power is being directed towards the central tower. Whatever it is that's eating up all this voltage, it is up there."

"What kind of pokémon can actually do that?" Harrison asked in shock.

"A machine." Paul corrected. "Even my Electivire would go unconscious after taking in that much power for thirty seconds. And this thing is soaking since last night."

"Must be one hell of a machine." Harrison wondered. "Who would possibly need that much power?"

Paul's eyes darkened. "I might have… an idea. Now come on. If your friend is still looking, chances are that he would also get a lead to the central tower from the other turbines."

* * *

 _I swear someone seriously hates me a lot._ Ash thought, as he leapt off the broken concrete, diving to the right, as the dark, menacing creature leapt past him, before twisting in mid-air, as it turned to face him, his face twisted with a feral snarl.

 _Damn Umbreons._ Ash cursed, as his fingers reached in for one of the pokeballs as he hit the button, releasing Crawdaunt out to play. The overgrown crustacean clicked its pincers menacingly, glowering at the Umbreon, as he registered the situation, before letting 0ut a grunt.

"Use vice grip, Crawdaunt." Ash commanded, allowing Crawdaunt to take over as he pushed himself back to the nearest pillar to catch some breath. After getting rid of the magnemite cluster, he had been dawdling over the second floor, which at least, had those shaky lights on the ceiling, when he had run into a group of Team Rocket grunts, and _four_ Umbreons of all pokémon, their eyes unnaturally red, almost as if they had lost all sense of normalcy and given into their primal urges, one that made them consider humans as their prey. For a Primeape to be like that was one thing, but for the Umbreon species… that behaviour was highly unnatural.

 _That, and their wide move set._ He thought inwardly. For one thing, none of the grunts seemed well-trained in the art of battling, something they tried to counteract by sheer numbers. However, the wide array of moves their pokémon exhibited only gave way for a single conclusion- These pokémon had been caught (stolen), given high-powered TM's, and injected with drugs to maintain their state of permanent agitation, though how the grunts didn't end up becoming prey was anybody's guess.

 _Guess that's another of Team Rocket's secrets._ Ash plucked out another pokeball and released Pidgeotto. "Get to Harrison. Bring him here, quick."

With a cry, Pidgeotto swooped past the other Umbreon, and dove through the window, soaring up into the air, before quickly locating their brown-haired friend a floor below in the other tower. With another passionate screech, Pidgeotto swooped.

 _All right Ketchum, cool down._ Ash thought to himself, taking a deep breath. He knew for a fact that Rhydon and Metang were battling another pair of Umbreon on the other end, while he had Crawdaunt facing two Umbreons all by himself.

 _Time to bring in more reinforcements._ He plucked out the two other pokeballs. "Charmander, Bagon, I have need of you."

As the lights subsided, and the two draconian pokémon appeared, Ash stood up and began to issue orders. "Quick, Charmander, use Dragon breath. Bagon, Dragon Pulse on the Umbreons." He glanced towards Crawdaunt, who was currently locked in a headlock with one of them. "Use bubble-beam to push it back, Crawdaunt!"

The combination of Crawdaunt's bubble-beam, and Bagon's Dragon pulse was enough to subdue the Umbreon, while the other one leapt out of its way, escaping Charmander's dragon breath, before jumping into the air, pouncing towards the fire-lizard-

Only to get slammed in the abdomen by a powerful head-butt from a certain baby dragon.

"Dragon breath. Again." Ash commanded, as Charmander's attack hit true this time, banishing the Umbreon to the wall on the other end.

"This way, guys!" Ash rushed, before running towards the other end, before stopping, just in time, to avoid colliding with his favourite iron claw pokémon who it seemed was floating towards him. Further in front, was Rhydon, kicking the disoriented Umbreon in the gut, who just mewled in excruciating pain. Beside the fallen dark creature, three grunts lay on the ground, with blood flooding from their chests.

 _Did Rhydon do this?_

"Enough, Rhydon." Ash commanded in his most intimidating voice, letting out a sigh almost instantly at the fact that Rhydon obeyed him once again. Though, the irritated grunt from the rock species wasn't ignored by his trainer.

"Rhydon, I know you are angry that they attacked us. But please do not kill them. I'd hate for my friend to become a murderer of this…" He looked at the fallen grunt pair, "-these people."

Rhydon snorted at that, but didn't bother to do anything else.

Shaking his head in vain, Ash returned the rest of his pokémon, with the exception of Metang, as he stepped ahead, and opened the door, the grunts had been guarding.

 _What were these three grunts doing here anyway?_

Beyond the door was what seemed to be a huge chamber, bigger than most gyms in sheer size. And there, on the floor, were people, fallen all over the ground, randomly, some above others, almost like they were-

Ash swallowed as the nasty thought crossed his mind. _No._ He told himself, stepping into the compound, doing his best not to puke at the possibility that he was standing amidst hundreds of dead bodies. Somehow, he managed to kneel in front of one of the bodies- a young woman of around twenty by her looks—and held two fingers at her nose-

He let out a breath of elation.

 _They are alive. Or at least, she is._ "Metang," he whispered, suddenly feeling the headache grow to massive proportions. "Metang, please use confusion against me."

Metang made an odd noise, as if inquiring if Ash was in his right mind.

"I need to get rid of this headache, if I am to concentrate. Can you, you know, make me ignore this headache for a while?"

Another mechanical groan followed, before the iron claw pokémon's eyes glowed blue, and Ash's own mirrored them, before both pairs of eyes settling to their normal forms.

 _Damn. That was… too easy._ Ash thought, feeling the entire absurdity of the entire thing. Pain relievers didn't hold a penny against a basic psychic trick.

"Thanks, buddy. Now can you check if these people are… you know, under some kind of drug, or psychically-induced sleep?"

Metang floated over the fallen bodies, gathering an inordinate amount of psychic energy inside him, before releasing it all, just like he had done it earlier. Supersensory did have its uses, after all. The people stirred, showing slight movements, proving Ash's theory correct, appearing to wake up from a long sleep and-

Their motions stopped as they fell back down once again, just as they were before.

"What… what just happened?"

Metang floated towards Ash, his eyes glowing an unearthly blue once again, looking squarely at Ash in the eye.

 _ **Psychic… power…. Strong.**_

"Stronger than you?"

Metang made a noise which Ash understood as agreement.

 _Damn. This is turning out to be spookier than I thought. First those electric-types, then Team Rocket with those High TM pokémon, and now a powerful psychic enough-_

 _Wait._

 _Something is wrong. That… that certainly cannot be possible. One single psychic cannot possibly have that much power…._

 _Can it?_

"Let's…. just get out of this place." Ash murmured, before stepping out of the giant chamber. On walking out, he noticed a second door. Without thinking any longer, he went ahead and slammed it open.

Beyond the door was a glass tunnel, connecting one part of the skyscraper with the other, the tunnel serving as one of the three bridges between the twin towers. The first half, Ash mused, was mostly for the labs, and the more menial stuff. The managerial staff, it seemed, worked in the other half.

 _I wouldn't be finding out anything just standing here._

Shaking his head again, Ash walked up front, the hulking Rhydon and the floating Metang, quickly following him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Harrison and Paul had just engaged with a thin group of Team Rocket grunts (surprise?), which had been taken care of between the two of them. Arcanine had been rather… angsty over being almost-triumphed over by the hordes of Grimer, and was feeling more vengeful as usual. Boys and their pride after all.

"Are you sure it's all right to capture that Umbreon?" Harrison asked warily. The grunts they had just faced, had a pair of Umbreon and two golem with them. Arcanine had dispatched one of the Umbreons, while Skarmory, much to Harrison's awe, had simply _dealt_ with the other Umbreon and the golem as if they were little more than inconvenience. When he had expressed his wish to have one of those Umbreons for himself, Paul had given him the green signal.

"Look bub, you either take it or you don't. These pokémon aren't registered. Team Rocket's never are. You are just taking your spoils from a thief."

"In that case, why don't you yourself capture some of them?" Harrison voiced.

Paul sneered. "These… are trash. They got blasted by a single move. I have no need for them."

"Any pokémon can become powerful, with the right training." Harrison retorted.

"Yeah. Do me a favour. Shut the fuck up, capture and train them for all you like. Don't bother me."

"You sure are a real charmer." Harrison mocked.

"I know, right?" Paul sneered again, before turning around, before taking a step back as a _shiny_ Pidgeotto flew past him, landing straight on Paul's shoulders.

"A _shiny_ Pidgeotto? Again? What? Do all the heroic morons get the shiny ones? Or is merely my luck?"

"She isn't mine." Harrison retorted, glancing at the avian squawking at him. "He's Ash's."

"Ash? Tell me it's not that-"

"Wait a second," Harrison interrupted, turning towards the avian. "Where's Ash? Is he in danger?"

Pidgeotto squawked again.

"Show us where." He replied, as the avian left his shoulder to soar upwards into the air, before squawking again, and entering the floor above them.

 _Ash is in the floor above us?_ "Paul, we need to-"

But Paul had already sprinted ahead.

 _Damn!_ Harrison cursed, before he followed swiftly.

* * *

 _So this is the main office._ Ash wondered, standing at the entrance of the chamber, wondering if it would be proper to just walk into the entire place. After all, the manager would-

The sight of those people inside the chamber came to mind.

Shaking his head to get rid of that image, Ash took a step forth, making sure that Rhydon was just beside him. "Rhydon," he murmured, "whatever is there in this room, it might be hostile and attack us. If that happens, do _not_ hold back." He paused, "Metang, psychic defenses ready."

Rhydon didn't have a human-like mouth. If he did, Ash was sure he would've been grinning madly. Metang just floated to Ash's shoulder, without a single noise. Confident of his friends supporting him, Ash pushed the door open.

It was unnecessary.

Standing inside the entire lobby, was a single figure, a man from the looks of it. He was wearing a full-sleeved trench-coat, hood on, as he stood in front of what seemed like a steel table of some sort, his two hands embedded inside some kind of… glowing, electronic accordion of some sort. On closer look, the thing seemed to be having too many wires drawn all around it, each glowing with a different color.

"Uh… excuse me?" Ash spoke up in hesitation.

 _Right, that is a wonderful start._ The more cynical part of his mind scoffed. He just scowled inwardly, but took another step forward.

 _ **I didn't think you'd make it, child. Your Metang looks exceptionally well-trained.**_

Ash could've sworn he had heard the voice in his head. Almost instinctively, his left hand moved into his pocket as he took out the pokedex, hoping that Dexter would be able to shed some light into the situation.

 **No data available.** Dexter crowed.

 _Of course._ Ash sneered mentally. "Who are you?"

The man didn't bother turning back to face them, his palms still embedded inside the electrical equipment. Of course, the better question would be _what are you,_ but it sounded way too rude, even for this context. Besides, he had heard about psychics, with Sabrina, the Saffron Gym leader and one of the Elite Four, herself being one.

 _ **I'm not… like Sabrina, little one. Her meagre tricks are of no value to someone such as myself.**_

 _That's a man who loves his work._ Ash thought sardonically. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

 _ **Shouldn't I ask the same of you?**_

 _Damn right._ "I'm here to find what's going on."

Something… _shifted_ about the person. Maybe it was because Metang's association was deepening Ash's own perceptivity towards psychics in general, or maybe it was just gut instinct, but something told him that the… man's proclivity towards normal conversation had changed.

 _ **I see… You are from the League.**_

"No… I'm just… a trainer. Who the hell are you anyway?"

Ash had a feeling like the stranger was smirking at him, and that he was the subject of a personal joke.

" _ **A trainer then…. What is your purpose in coming here?"**_

"That's none of your business." Ash retorted. "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here? Did you cause all those- _hang on- he knows what I've been doing all this while, and he's the psychic and-_

 _Crap._

The stranger finally pulled his palms out of the equipment, before they were sheathed within his trench-coat, as the man turned around. Not that it made any difference, since the coat and hood covered everything about him. Then, he levitated, floating just a few inches above the gr0und, almost… lazily.

 _ **I'll quench your curiosity then. I came here because I was thirsty, and now I've quenched my thirst.**_

"So you're going to leave? Just like that?"

The stranger tilted his head. _**Why should I do any different?**_

"What about those people? They are all under psychic control. Release them, now." Ash took a step forward, unaware why he was feeling more confident.

 _ **Interesting. And if I don't?**_

"Then I'll force you." Ash replied with conviction.

He felt the stranger smile behind the hood.

"Rhydon!" Ash commanded in a stern tone. "Use Rock Tomb!"

The great rocky beast let out a roar, before it stomped its way towards the psychic, raising several concrete fragments, as the seismic waves shattered the stone floor. With a single swing of his tail, Rhydon sent the fragments flying towards him-

Only to see them stop midway.

Just like that.

The psychic didn't even make a single movement, though the rocks slowly began to chip away, until the randomly shaped fragments had become semi-circular in shape. Suddenly, Rhydon was levitated off the ground, much to the beast's indignation, turned upside-down, as the semi-circular rocks bound themselves all around Rhydon like shackles, each of them at least a feet thick, incarcerating the beast completely.

"Rhydon!" Ash yelled in anxiety. "Metang, use thunder-"

Before the order was even complete, a silvery shadow sprung past in a manner of seconds, as it shot towards the psychic, before suddenly stopping with a single jerk. Ash, completely horrified, saw _Skarmory_ getting her _steel wing_ slowly twisted, as the avian screeched in agony. The psychic though, had yet to show a single movement.

 _It stopped Skarmory just like that, without a single movement. All of that while keeping Rhydon bound like that. What the hell… is that thing?_

"Ash!" Harrison screamed in the background, as he and Paul raced towards him, Paul's face contrite with anger at the psychic's reaction. "Skarmory, use Flash!"

The steel avian suddenly flashed with blinding light, as the psychic held his hands up, shielding himself from the bright light, enabling Skarmory to escape his psychic trap. That moment of weakness, also cost him his control over Rhydon, who broke out and dropped on the floor, groaning.

"What the hell _is_ that thing?" Paul snarled. "Aggron, Gyarados!" He called in, as the pokémon formed around him instantly. "Use Hyper beam."

With a predatory glare, both of the apex pokémon fired powerful hyper beams at the psychic, their beams conjoined close to their destination, only to stop directly in front of the psychic.

"What… the…" Paul exclaimed in horror. The psychic wasn't even diverting the hyper beams or deflecting them. He was simply… stopping them at one single point, which meant-

"Metang, psychic now! Full power!" Ash yelled, as Metang formed a thick layer of psychic energy, just in time as the highly compressed hyper beam exploded outward, lashing against Metang's shields, making the iron claw pokémon float back in reaction, though the shields held, but only just. Rhydon and Skarmory, both of them had been caught in the attack, and were unconscious, though their strong outer hide prevented all but superficial damage.

 _ **Is that all that you've got?**_ The psychic spoke, still levitated, exactly where it was, as if the explosion hadn't happened. He tilted his head again. _**Pity. I was expecting a lot more.**_

The psychic, much to everyone's surprise, simply floated a little higher, before raising his left hand in a circle to the height of his shoulder, before snapping his fingers. Ash could see… grey skin at the ends of the sleeves.

Extremely light grey skin _._

 _ **In time,**_ the psychic spoke, still through his telepathy. _**You'll know what it is like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail all the same.**_

And then, he was gone.

* * *

 **AN: The St. Anne part begins from the next chapter. I was feeling rather… unenthusiastic, trying to write this chapter, so I dillydallied a little. As you might know, there will be a tournament held. If anyone wants to make any requests for the tournament, please put them in Reviews or PM's, within the next 72 hours, that is, before August 21, 1900 Hours IST.**


	8. Elimination

"What do you think was that… thing?" Ash questioned, unsure how to describe the stranger who had literally played with them at a whim, and then disappeared, not because of any fear of being defeated, but more due to boredom than anything else.

"I… have no idea." Paul, the ever-confident trainer, looked unusually subdued. "In all my years, I have never encountered something even remotely dangerous to that… thing."

"Do you think that's a pokémon?" Harrison inquired, his mind deep in thought. "Maybe something… legendary?"

Paul raised an eyebrow. "A legendary pokémon that was stealing electrical power enough to feed a city for more than a month? What is this… some legendary Snorlax or something?"

Ash snorted at the comparison. "Who knows?" His mind went back to his own interactions with the legendary Articuno, and then with the King Dragonite back in Cerulean. The powers these… ancient pokémon seemed to wield were beyond human comprehension, though Ash couldn't help but wonder about their apathy towards the sheer destruction they caused.

"Whatever," Paul waved it off, glancing at Ash. "So Ash Ketchum, it seems I misjudged you. To hold power over a Rhydon, no matter how _weak,_ is an achievement, for a kid nonetheless."

Ash bristled over the insult about his Rhydon's power, but didn't counter that statement. There was no point in trying, considering that from Paul's own perspective, Rhydon was weak. Besides, he had just evolved, and there was a long way to go.

"He might be weak," Ash returned, "after all, he's just evolved. But he did manage to defeat an entire army of Magnemite without breaking a sweat. I'm sure he will grow into the strongest of his species with time."

"Yeah, tell me when I see you getting ousted in the Eliminations." Paul sneered, much to Ash's chagrin.

"So… Paul, are you looking ahead for the St. Anne trip?" Harrison asked out of curiosity.

"Nah!" Paul waved his hand. "Spending two weeks in a ship filled with babies and their starters, all for some measly sum at the end? Not for me."

Ash cried in indignation. "Take that back."

"Make me." Paul challenged. "Besides, I already made some money."

Ash looked away, nodding in acceptance. After the psychic had teleported his way out of the tower, Ash had taken Metang for another attempt for the second time, and was glad to see that it worked. From the looks of it, without the psychic forcefully maintaining his own hold upon their collective consciousness, the people could be broken out of that… trance, for lack of a better word, by another psychic attack. With the people safe and restored, it had been a little time before the Manager had thanked them, rather exuberantly for their aid, going so far as to add eight thousand pokedollars in their individual accounts for their contribution in saving them from that… psychic's trance. Unfortunately, the manager had no recollections about the entire thing, how it had started or who might be responsible for the entire thing in the first place, only that he had an impromptu meeting with a certain someone…

The rest was… as he put it, hazy.

"Yeah, eight thousand pokedollars, I know." Harrison put in. "I kind of feel bad for accepting it, since all I did was run into trouble. You and Ash here had some actual contribution."

"Come on, Harrison," Ash returned, "even you know that your pokémon couldn't have helped. You saw how the psychic just tossed ours aside like they were less than an afterthought.

Harrison nodded but said nothing.

"Yes, eight thousand's a good amount, but that wasn't what I was referring." Paul chimed in, smirking as he did.

"Then?"

Paul gave Ash a look of exaggerated confusion. "Did you think I just happened to loiter around this compound, hoping I could save some kid's petty arse again?"

"You…." Ash growled.

"I was hired by Nurse Joy to inspect the matter. She have me a call, making me come here all the way from Cerulean."

"You… flew all the way here?" Ash asked.

"Teleported." Paul corrected. "My Hypno is rather good at it."

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but decided better of it. He wasn't the expert but the Drowzee-line were more in tune with physical and mental manipulation. Creating spatial and temporal distortions weren't exactly their forte. "TM, I take it?"

"Rather helpful." Paul, it seemed, was capable of normal conversation when the companion was somewhat knowledgeable of the matter being discussed. "Hypno have better control at physical manipulation than the Abra-line, and I didn't want to raise a sleepy bear because I wanted a quick teleporter."

"What do you mean?" Harrison asked, not being able to follow along.

"The ability to teleport isn't something present by default in the Drowzee-line, so it has to be a TM. Abra on the other hand, learn teleport the first thing they do on being born." Ash answered.

"You are… quite knowledgeable about them." Paul noticed.

"My mom researches on psychic pokémon. You'll be surprised on the amount of stuff you pull in just from random conversation."

"And here I thought you were demonstrating real diligence for once." The purple-haired trainer sighed.

"Can you be any more of a condescending arse?" Ash countered back.

"Yes." Came the cheerful answer.

"So Nurse Joy talked you into coming here, in return of…." Harrison drawled, wanting to get back to the topic.

"Ten thousand pokedollars." Paul replied succinctly. "What? I assure you my services aren't cheap," He paused mid-sentence, as he checked the watch-like device on his right hand, "Yep, the money's already filled in."

"But you already got eight from here." Ash complained.

"Your point is?"

"You have no sense of decency." Ash declared.

"I will take that as a compliment." Paul snarked. "Now, as much as I would like to chitchat like nobodies, I actually have some work to do back in Cerulean." He lifted a pokeball off his belt, as a Hypno appeared next to him. "Till next time, fella's." The Hypno didn't make the slightest movement, before the duo teleported away.

"Arsehole." Ash muttered.

"You can say that again." Harrison sighed, looking at the empty space where Paul stood seconds ago. He turned back to face Ash. "You were right. There was something wrong going on over here."

"Well, it did come out all right." Ash replied cheerfully. "My rhyhorn evolved, and I got a sum of money too." He paused, before a frown appeared on his face. "Also, I caught this…" he held out a pokeball as red light shot out of it, revealing the Magneton.

"A Magneton?" Harrison exclaimed, "that's… cool. These are quite rare back in Hoenn."

"I assure you I'm willing to trade him for anything you've got." Ash replied distastefully. "I only captured him because Rhydon wanted me to."

"Then why so…?"

"Distasteful? Unwelcoming? Apathetic?" Ash supplied.

"…yeah."

Ash scrunched up his face. "I don't really have the best experience with electric-types."

"But you handled your Crawdaunt fairly well." Harrison supplied.

"Yeah, and I am a hypocrite for judging electric-type for that. Your point?" Ash retorted.

Harrison raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not judging."

"Good, because we need your Arcanine to return to Vermillion. The St. Anne leaves tomorrow and I need to get my pokémon treated and healthy and… get some things from the Pokemart."

"Like?"

"Oh, you know… A little of this and a little of that."

* * *

 **The next evening. Vermillion Harbour.**

The St. Anne wasn't just a cruise ship. It was a venerable city-on-wheels, made for none but the Elite. For Ash Ketchum whose sea travel experience had been limited to the steamer he had embarked upon back at Cerulean, this was certainly… bizarre and enthralling at the same time. The cruise was dozens of times bigger than the largest Wailord he had heard about, and even those mighty Gyarados looked positively tiny before the steel behemoth this size. He wondered for a moment how the King Dragonite would look like, compared to this… magnificent piece of human ingenuity.

 _And I'm going to spend two weeks on this ship. How the hell does a mechanical contraption this size manage to float?_

Returning back to Vermillion, Ash hadn't wasted a moment in getting to the Pokémon center to get his pokémon treated and checked for health. The moment they had been declared fine, Ash had instantly sent them off to Professor Oak to have the old man have his own way with them, except for Bagon. Oh, and he had also managed to have a _talk_ with Magneton, which had gone just _wonderfully._

 _I cannot believe, even now, how a pokémon can be so… so…._

He searched for an appropriate word, but couldn't manage to get anything good enough from his limited vocabulary. Magneton had accepted the fact that he had been caught by Ash and thus, was his captured pokémon. He also accepted that Ash had the right to use him in battles, and that he would fight those battles, and win, in order to become a powerful Magnezone in time. _However,_ he had no expectations from his trainer, and didn't believe for a second, that Ash had anything to teach him, that he couldn't learn himself.

Bottom line. Magneton would fight if entered in a battle, but he wouldn't listen to Ash's commands. He could use Magneton for a battle, and _hope_ the electric-type stay true to his word. Crawdaunt, was an entirely different thing, but how did you manage someone like this?

 _After all, he is just another stupid electric-type._ Ah thought venomously.

"Ash," Harrison elbowed him, as the duo approached the ticket collector. The sailor in question, accepted their tickets, verifying them via some kind of electronic equipment.

"You may go." The man in blue finally declared, letting Ash and Harrison pass through, handing them two plastic cards with the lettering F67 and F68. "Directions can be found on any part of the ship. If you need further assistance, please ask any of the ship personnel. Have a pleasant stay."

Ash and Harrison thanked the sailor before moving ahead, into a less-crowded area of the cruise, looking up at the plastic cards in their hands.

"I guess we will be having adjacent rooms for the next couple of weeks." Ash remarked.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Harrison raised an eyebrow.

"Just an observation." Ash returned. The two of them walked ahead before they encountered another personnel on deck, who directed them the way to their respective rooms. They were first class. More space than they needed, more lavish décor and gadgets than they had seen before, and more expensive furniture than either could afford.

"Let's put our luggage in there, and meet outside in say… two hours?" Harrison offered.

Ash tilted his head in agreement. He too, wanted to see exactly how it was the Elite lived their life. "Alright."

* * *

The room was amazing. No scratch that, it was the pinnacle of luxury. This was where kings and queens of fairy tales were supposed to live. The couches, the bed, even the tea table looked so grand and expensive, he couldn't help but feel a slight inferiority complex.

Ash took off his travelling outfit, before settling himself in comfortable Tee's, and khaki pants, his feet marvelling the exquisite softness of the carpet upon which he stood, as he took in his surroundings. The place was big enough for all his pokémon to fit on snugly, and even then, the bed would be free for him.

 _Rhydon would probably take the entire floor to himself._ Ash observed. _Then again, his smoother hide is probably for the best. Rhyhorn's protrusions would've torn the carpet apart._

He looked around. There was even a miniature Jacuzzi in the attached bathroom, big enough for a person. Poliwhirl… and Crawdaunt would probably have an ideal time in it. As for Metang, he had no idea if the iron claw pokémon even slept on anything, or simply maintained its state of constant levitation. Then again, knowing Metang, he wouldn't put it beyond it not to keep his psychic powers active even in sleep.

Bagon… would probably want to take the couch, or anywhere else he would like. Charmander… he would have to be careful, lest his tail flame burn the entire room to ashes. It would not do to burn the magnificent room because of a simple error.

 _I'll have to look into that. As for Magneton, he can stay at the coral for now._

Pidgeotto…. Pidgeotto would probably pick a good perch somewhere, maybe on the bed posts for all he knew, and knowing the avian, she would probably pick a spot higher than the others, if only to assert her pride as an avian.

Ash smirked. Having fun wasn't all that bad.

* * *

The cruise had its own personalized Pokémon center and hospital, in case they ran into any unfortunate accidents, or if the travellers simply wanted a duel. For the oncoming tournament, the staff and facilities at the center had been tripled, since they wouldn't be getting any external aid during their time on the cruise. There was a grand dining hall, with an attached ballroom and hall. Bars hosting drinks of all assortments, a piano and performance space for live music, elevators, spiral staircases and grand archways, just name it and it was there. Ash wondered if it was possible to simply live here for the rest of his natural life.

"Grand place, ain't it?" Harrison asked, as the two of them stood at the balcony right outside their rooms, each separated from the other by artistic grilling. It was past seven, and the announcement in the grand hall downstairs was due at around eight.

"Yeah. Eager to get started on the tournament?" Ash asked.

Harrison lifted his head and let out a snort. "Ash Ketchum, you need to start enjoying the finer things in life. For once, you are on a cruise you might never have a chance to be on, ever again. Cut the desire for pokémon battling and enjoy your trip."

Ash chuckled. "My mom and Professor Oak said the same. They said that I need to enjoy it a little more, else it will become tedious."

"Of course it would." Harrison agreed without hesitation. "Dude, you've barely made it a month into being a trainer, and you already have a solid team of seven….. No, eight pokémon, right?"

Ash nodded.

"You need a minimum of six pokémon to enter the Indigo League, which you already do. Even if you stop capturing pokémon any further, and just train and evolve the present ones to the limit, you already have a fantastic team." Harrison exclaimed enthusiastically. "You already have three badges for God's sake."

Ash chortled. "Now you are sounding just like my mom."

"Wonder why." Harrison drawled.

Ash snorted again. "Yeah, I know. Initially, I was thinking of attaining eight badges as soon as possible, maybe in six months, if I could make it."

Harrison muttered something like 'understatement', but Ash didn't inquire about it.

"After that, I could get my team trained for a while… maybe on Mount Mortar or somewhere similar."

"And then?"

Ash flustered a little. "Then I was actually hoping to challenge gym leaders and battle their original teams all over again."

Harrison raised an eyebrow. "Reworking your way all over the circuit to battle gym leaders, no strings attached? Quite… ambitious."

Ash shrugged. "I don't know… I just want to build a nice, powerful team for myself, and not depend upon a limited group. You know… I just don't want to face the situation of being limited to a single powerful heavy-hitter, and then risk everything upon the well-being of said pokémon."

"I… see."

"Yeah," Ash expressed. "Back when I was smaller, I used to have a dream of having a large, powerful Charizard who would be literally unbeatable, and would win all my battles for me." His face frowned. "But then as I grew up, the holes in that grand plan began to appear to me. Having a single heavy-hitter meant complete dependence on him, no matter how strong he might be. In case Charizard lost, I'd be without a trump card and lose my next match."

"That's… a rational approach."

"Yeah well, that's why I need an entire team, enough that I can simply use an entire team for one, and then use an entirely other one for the next. Besides, that's what a pokémon trainer is being about, right? Catching a _lot_ of pokémon." He paused. "Besides, after meeting that psychic, who was playing with even _Paul,_ I cannot help but think that no amount of training is overboard."

Harrison tilted his head at Ash's words. "Yeah… oh guess what? I forgot to tell you, but I also captured some pokémon from the tower."

Ash's eyes glowed with curiosity. "Which one?"

"An Umbreon and a Golem." Harrison replied.

"I thought they belonged to Team Rocket." Ash scowled. That had been his sole reasoning behind his lack of attempt at capturing them.

Harrison snorted. "I said the exact thing to Paul. Turns out, Team Rocket stole them from someplace, and they aren't registered. So, it's a free for all thing, I guess." He paused, "though, I will say that the pokémon were in bad condition, and need proper treatment."

"Did you put them to the Pokémon center on the ship?"

"Nah! Sent them back to Hoenn. Professor Birch decided to entertain my unusual request."

"Ah." Ash deadpanned.

* * *

The banquet hall was at the very least, three times larger than the sky-high Pewter city gym in sheer size. In fact, it was twice the size of the turbine chambers present at the Commerce City Power plant. On the main platform, stood a single host, a blonde-haired woman dressed in robes of immaculate blue, with the entire audience facing her, standing opposite the grand platform.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." The host spoke gracefully, her expressive eyes shining brightly at the audience in front of her. "Welcome to your very first night at St. Anne's. I hope you all have a lovely travel experience."

The entire audience clapped at her welcoming statement, as she continued. "I will take this moment to call in someone extremely special, to introduce all of you with the finer details of this particular trip." With an elegant wave, she welcomed a certain brown-haired man, who looked slightly embarrassed before walking up to the stage.

"Why the hell did we need to dress up like this?" Ash complained, muttering to Harrison, who snorted.

"Because it is the dinner code. Black coat with tails, white shirt and black trousers. That's why they got us a suit in the rooms."

"Yeah, but still…" Ash whined.

"Hush!"

"-please welcome on stage, the former Champion of Hoenn, and presently, the Deputy to the Champion of Kanto and Johto. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Steven Stone."

"THAT is Steven Stone?" Ash muttered excitedly. He had heard about the nearly unbeatable Steel-master who had reigned as Champion before leaving his seat for Wallace, who was reigning as the present Champion of Hoenn. While Steven was popular, Ash wasn't _that_ mad about him as he was for Lance. After all, the dragon-master Lance, was the Champion of Kanto and Johto, and thus, much closer to home.

"Hello everyone…" Steven began, his bangs falling right in front of his eyes, getting him quite the exotic ruffian look with his silver hair color, as he addressed the audience. "To those of you who don't know me… My name is Steven Stone and I…."

He paused, as he was met with a cheering audience, pausing until most of the cheers had ceased.

Steven chuckled. "I am presently serving as a special Deputy to Champion Lance, who is presently, working to ensure everyone's safety from any and all forms of external threats. So I would like a round of applause for our diligent Champion."

Another set of cheers inundated the hall.

"I have been chosen to conduct the entire event by the League, because Lance said… that _I'd manage it best,_ but I can't help but feel like Monarch Henry VIII's last wife. I kind of know what I'm supposed to do, but I'm not sure how to do it any differently."

Snorts reverberated in the entire hall.

"The world is changing," Steven began, "and with the latest developments, we have seen amazing, exciting things. Pokémon, of a variety of types and forms and legends arising all over, our own mythology coming to life, and regions coming together in mutual aid and support." He paused, "like our own Kanto-Hoenn Exchange."

After the thunderstorm of clapping had ceased, the silver-haired man continued, "Keeping that desire in mind, this cruise trip is something that Champion Lance, the Elite Four of Kanto, and similarly, Champion Wallace of Hoenn and respective Elite Four, have all been working on, over the last couple of months. And now, that we are all here, which brings us to our main event."

He lifted his hands wide open in welcoming fashion. "I invite you all, to the St. Anne's Clubsplosion Event!"

Thunderous cheering met his statement.

"-but I haven't even mentioned what it is yet!" He returned with a fake whine, much to everyone's chuckling. Former Champion or not, Steven Stone knew how to charm an audience. "The Clubsplosion, is going to be an all-open tournament, open to every single trainer in this compound, the number, I'm told reaching a staggering high of two hundred and fifty six." He joined in with the clapping. "Two hundred and fifty six, and all of them being just trainers."

He allowed himself a brief pause. "There are, hidden among us, some _very, very_ special guests, who have requested me, _not_ to reveal their identities, until the tournament is over." He smirked at the crowd's reaction, before continuing, "Nevertheless, I can assure you that they will be present to award the prizes for the Clubsplosion event which begins just tomorrow."

Another cheers ran amongst the audience.

"The organizers have decided, to have three rounds of elimination, with a single round a single day, which I believe, should be good to include all the trainers around here, and reduce it down to thirty-two, who would proceed to the Quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and eventually, the winner will be decided seven days from now, when we have a grand celebration, and a live performance by Jimmy Carrera."

The crowd cheered madly.

"We have decided that the top-four, will each get a mystery pokémon, kept inside these brand-new ultraballs." He waved his hand as a table materialized into existence. There were eight, shining ultraballs, sitting on pouches on the table, the distinct U on the ball shining vividly, even from the distance. "Initially, we were planning to have four pokémon eggs for the Top-4, without revealing the nature of the pokémon within. Then, our dear Ice-Queen _Lorelei,_ had an intriguing idea."

He mysteriously paused, as he allowed the audience to digest that.

"Instead of eggs, we decided to get _fully-evolved_ pokémon, taken from the Kanto and Hoenn Safari, eight pokémon, all of whom agreed to be part of this contest, and be awarded to the winners. All eight pokémon inside these balls are powerful, and hope to develop their abilities under their future trainers." He pointed towards the eight ultraballs. Each of the Top-4 will have the choice to choose one from these eight at random, though, you'll have to wait for the finals to know what those… mystery pokémon actually are." Steven smirked at the reaction before continuing. "Additionally, the Top-4 are going to get four packs of full-restores each as well."

"You think Paul's missing out?" Ash asked, not bothering to hide his excitement.

"You think?" Harrison agreed in the same spirit.

"The third runner-up is going to be awarded with five ultraballs." Steven began, the audience cheering at the mention of the highly anticipated prize. Ultraballs, were after all, a thing of luxury in the pokémon world, and every trainer's dream purchase, alongside TM's.

"The second runner-up will get five ultraballs and three thousand pokedollars." Steven continued. "The runner-up, shall be getting seven ultraballs and five thousand pokedollars."

Steven took a break. "The winner, of the Clubsplosion event, will be awarded…."

Everyone waited with baited breath.

"… With ten ultraballs and a direct entry into the top-32 of the upcoming Indigo Conference."

 _Hot damn._ Ash and Harrison thought in unison.

* * *

The next morning, the entire deck looked completely unfamiliar. The gargantuan platform seemed to be divided into two different portions, an outer, larger region for the spectators, and a smaller, inner region, divided into four podiums, in order to have four elimination battles happening at the same time. The podiums were individually compartmentalized and fortified by psychic shields, in order to prevent any kind of interference from one field to another.

Ash found himself standing on the third podium, staring at the violet-haired Morrison, from Eterna city in Sinnoh, ready to begin the battle that would decide their future for the tournament.

"This will be a two-on-two battle. Trainers may rotate pokémon at will. You may not use more than two pokémon." The referee paused for a moment, before turning towards Morrison, who was standing on the blue square. "The Blue trainer shall choose first."

Morrison gave a sharp look towards Ash, before taking a step backwards, as he threw his pokeball into the centre of the battlefield. "Go, Tailow!"

The dark avian materialized in front of Ash, before spanning its wings outward, and soaring upwards, as he took note of it. Using the pokedex wasn't an option during an official battle such as this, since both trainers had to release their pokémon within ten seconds of each other.

 _Tailow, huh? Flying types are usually weak against electric types. Should I use it?_

Ash made his decision, and plucked his pokeball out. "Go, Magneton!"

The magnet pokémon zoomed in the air above Ash, though luckily for him, did not resort to attacking him back like he had expected.

 _Perhaps I was a little too hasty about him?_ Ash thought. _Either way, I can always compensate with Rhydon in case he ends up losing._

"Magneton, do your thing." Ash gave the order with a frown, knowing very well that Magneton wouldn't really accept his commands. As if in response, the magnet pokémon made a buzzing sound, and threw a bolt of electricity towards the flying type.

"Tailow, dodge and use agility." Morrison exclaimed, and as ordered, the flying type narrowly dodged the attack and almost vanished from in front of them, only to appear randomly at different places in the air, circling the magnet pokémon.

"Now use double team." Morrison ordered.

"Magneton, use thunder shock!" Ash commanded.

Magneton however, had other things in mind. Concentrating some of the ambient electricity within himself, he let out a powerful wave, ionizing the air between himself and the illusory avians.

 _Interesting._ Ash thought. _I didn't realise Magneton knew thunder wave as well._

The thunder wave attack was powerful enough to paralyse the flying pokémon, who let out a screech of pain before losing its altitude. A successive streak of electricity from the magnet pokémon simply ended the battle.

"Tailow is unable to fight. The winner is Magneton." The referee raised his flag on behalf of Ash. "Trainer Red, choose your next pokémon."

"Well," Morrison gave him a half-sneer. "Try this then, go, Ivysaur."

The evolved form of the Kanto grass-type starter Bulbasaur sprang onto the battlefield, staring at the floating magnet pokémon intently.

"Ivysaur, this will determine my continuity in the tournament. You have to win."

Ivysaur barked in agreement, and finding a bolt of electricity racing towards himself, he used his vines to provide himself upward momentum, throwing himself into the air.

"Use razor leaf!" Morrison commanded.

"Thunder wave." Ash commanded, and once again, Magneton did his own thing by trying to burn the leaves using thunder attacks. That, proved to be his misfortune, as the leaves struck him hard and true.

"Now send him down using vine whip!"

Magneton tried to dodge but the numerous vines caught him off guard, lashing Magneton in the face, as the magnet pokémon fell to the ground.

Ash refrained from saying anything.

"Finish with leach seed!"

Ivysaur let out a bark, as he ejected a leech seed out of his bud, which hit Magneton, instantly incarcerating him and sucking out his energy, making the electric-type lose disoriented.

"Ivysaur wins the battle." The referee declared.

 _I didn't know that. Tell me more._ Ash thought cynically. Just as he had expected, Magneton was being more of a liability than an asset to his team. However, that was for later and he had an ivysaur to deal with. "Go, Metang!"

Numerous mutters of surprise rang among the audience. Apparently, Metang weren't that easy to find, much less capture.

"Ivysaur, use razor leaf!" Morrison commanded.

"You know what to do, Metang." Ash replied, a little laid-back, considering that he had trained the psychic-type enough to handle the grass-type by itself. The iron claw pokémon had instantly hardened its shell, as the leaves broke at surface contact.

Metang's eyes glowed an eldritch blue, as a blue aura surrounded Ivysaur, levitating it upwards in the air, as Metang pulled one of its fists backward, as a sliver of electricity ran through its shiny claws. Using its own psychic powers to create momentum, it shot towards the trapped grass-type, smashing a powerful thunder-punch in the face, dismissing its psychic trap just that very moment, as Ivysaur went tumbling down to the ground, unconscious.

"Ivysaur is unable to battle. Ash Ketchum moves to the second round of elimination."

* * *

"That was nicely done, Ash," Harrison praised, "although I never expected you to use Magneton like that in the start."

The two trainers had been lounging on the deck after a full lunch, enjoying the afternoon sun. Ash had let out Pidgeotto to spread his wings for a change, and Poliwhirl had jumped down into the sea, swimming amongst the waters, keeping up with the floating ship with its strong muscles. While Ash's own match for the day had been done, Harrison still had his left, which would probably be one of the remaining two sessions left.

Ash frowned at the other boy's question. "It was an acceptable risk. Magneton wanted to battle on his own, and I knew he was powerful, but I needed to know his limits. Besides, I needed to know if I could depend on him in the later rounds."

"Later rounds? Confident much?" Harrison taunted.

"Slightly. I want to win the tournament. I can't hope to win the trophy if I can't hope to qualify for at least the Quarter-finals."

Harrison snorted. "That's right, but what if he lost to Spearow?"

"It took Rhyhorn to transform to defeat him. He wouldn't lose to a _Spearow."_ Ash scowled. "And worse came to worst, I could always rely on Metang to solve the problem, or Rhydon, if it needed a heavy-hitter in physical strength."

"That's… surprisingly well-planned." Harrison raised his eyebrows. "You are improving as a trainer, Ash, not the wee little newbie as I initially thought you to be."

Ash decided to give him a mature reply, by sticking his tongue out.

Harrison guffawed,

"When is yours?" Ash asked.

"Dunno." The trainer from Hoenn shrugged. "Maybe later during the day or something. Haven't really checked yet."

"Somebody's being incredibly lax or over-confident." Ash teased.

"Nah, just enjoying the finer things in life."

"Like the St. Anne cruise?"

"It's an acquired taste."

* * *

That evening, Ash found himself standing on the deck, staring at the waters rushing by, as the sea breeze kissed his face. Harrison had defeated his opponent earlier in the afternoon, and had chosen to take a siesta before dinner, leaving Ash to his musings. Ash had submitted Magneton to the Pokémon center for treatment, and collected him back after a couple of hours, planning to send him over to Professor Oak. Magneton's personality, strangely enough, seemed to irritate him beyond anything else, which was almost ludicrous. Was he simply being too… _reactive_ about him because he was an electric-type, and had, in a way similar to Pikachu, made an attempt on his life? Or was it because like Pikachu, Magneton had thought less of him as a prospective trainer even before trying?

 _Am I just painting my notions about Magneton based on his similarity with Pikachu?_

"Hey… you are Ash Ketchum, right?"

Ash spun around, only to meet Morrison, the trainer he had battled earlier in the morning. Wondering what the boy would be wanting from him of all people, Ash nodded uncertainly.

"Yes, you are Morrison, right?"

"Well, who else can I be?" The boy, Morrison grinned.

Ash chuckled softly.

"Anyway," Morrison frowned, as if having difficulty in choosing his words, "I was wanting to talk with you about… well, something."

"Sure…" Ash nodded.

"I was battling your Magneton earlier, as you know, and I noticed, it didn't seem too… enthusiastic about following your commands."

Ash rubbed the back of his head, feeling a tad embarrassed. "Yeah, I kind of caught him two days ago, and we haven't exactly… bonded."

Morrison chuckled. "My Tailow went down against an untrained pokémon." He chuckled again. "Shows how much I still have to prepare."

"Nothing like that," Ash replied, "your Ivysaur was one tough nut."

"It took one single strike for your Metang to bring him down." Morrison challenged.

It felt odd, trying to downplay his own pokémon. "Well, Metang has been with me from the beginning of my journey. He's… quite excellent at what he does."

"I can see that." Morrison accepted. "How long have you been training?"

"A little less than a month." Ash replied genially.

Morrison opened his mouth to retort, but then decided better. "One can hardly tell."

"I have heard that one before." Ash returned, chuckling. "Anyway, you mentioned you wanted to talk about something?"

"Uh, yeah…" Morrison looked a tad embarrassed. "Well, I was wondering if you would be interested in trading your Magneton."

 _Trading my what?_

At Ash's perplexed expression, Morrison explained. "I have a Lairon, they are… well, native to Hoenn and Sinnoh, and rarely available over here. They evolve into Aggron, which kind of… are Sinnoh's counterpart for the Kanto Rhyperior."

 _Aggron huh?_ Ash remembered the giant, hulking beast that Paul commanded. That thing was enough to even make Rhydon sit and follow orders without question.

"Well, I'm kind of… having troubles with him. See, my Lairon is somewhat… _enthusiastic,_ and I don't think I'm someone he needs at the moment. He's a bit…"

"Difficult to control?" Ash supplied.

"Not really. He's more like… wild and ready to battle at all times, and that causes more problems than you can imagine."

 _Ah. A zealot version of Metang?_

"So, I was wondering if you would be interested in trading your Magneton for my Lairon."

Ash blinked.

Then blinked again.

"I'm sorry… but why would you want my Magneton? He's… not exactly the most affable or anything." He almost snorted at his own choice of words.

Morrison snorted. "Not like that, but well, I am more choosy over pokémon-types, going with flying, steel and electric types over others. Magneton fits that sort of description easily, and I have heard that it takes an incredibly long time to evolve magnemite into Magneton."

 _Point._

"So… would you be interested?"

 _Good question. Would I?_ Ash thought over it. Trading pokémon with others wasn't exactly something he looked forward to. However, this was a way of… substituting Magneton with another steel-type, only without his winning personality.

 _Should I do it?_

He looked up at Morrison. "Can you… you know, show me your Lairon?"

Morrison beamed, as he plucked a pokeball out of his waist, and released the pokémon within. Red light flashed, as a pokémon that faintly resembled Rhyhorn, except that it looked slightly smaller, and its body was encased in steel armour all over its body, with single protrusions on the top, unlike Rhyhorn who had protrusions all over. The metal rhinoceros let out a grunt on seeing Ash observing him.

 **Lairon. The steel armour pokémon. Lairon is the evolved form of Aron, and feeds on iron contained in rocks and water. It makes its nest on mountains where iron ore is buried. As a result, the Pokémon often clashes with humans mining the iron ore. Groups of them fight for territory by bashing one another with their steel bodies.**

 _Interesting._ Ash thought, as he performed a thorough check.

 **This Lairon is male. Current move set: Head-butt, rock tomb, tackle, protect and metal claw.**

Just for a recheck, Ash checked back on what Dexter had on Aggron. Just as he remembered, Aggron seemed to be the apex of physical strength, in addition to being steel-type, and he already had experience training rhyhorn, which should add to Lairon's training.

 _Rhydon and Aggron, two powerful behemoths if trained right. Too heavy-hitters, in case I need to fall back to using sheer force._

Decided, Ash took a deep breath as he looked up, with a slight smile. "Alright, I'll do it."

Morrison grinned. "Great! Then all we need is to get to the Trading Machine and seal the deal."

"I guess."

The two trainers walked across the deck, to the Pokémon center, beside which, was the Trading Room, with a rather sophisticated looking machine, with two different arm-like protrusions on either side, each landing onto a brass-plate, that was moulded to hold a pokeball without it rolling over.

Ash took one last look at Magneton's pokeball, not really wanting to allow second thoughts to float up. _This is for the best,_ he told himself, as he placed Magneton's pokeball on the brass-plate on his end, while Morrison put Lairon's pokeball on the other end. The screen lit up, with pictographic representation of both Lairon and Magneton, along with their ownership info.

"Would you like to do the honours?" Morrison offered.

Ash, slowly negated.

"No worries." Morrison shrugged, pressing the key for trade, as the pokeballs got sucked into the machine, and the pictographic representations exchanged spots, before their ownership info, now reversed, flashed on the screen once again. The pokeballs, with a strange buzzing noise, fell back onto the plates.

"That settles it." Morrison stated, as the trading machine successfully exchanged the ownership of the two pokémon with each other. Lairon, who had been captured by Morrison of Eterna City had his ownership shifted to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. The reverse happened with Magneton, as his ownership shifted to Morrison at the same time.

"Nice doing business with ya." The trainer from Sinnoh declared, before giving him an enthusiastic bow, before leaving the trading room, whistling as he did. Meanwhile Ash, his face shifting into a frown, looked at Lairon's pokeball that was now in his hands.

"Now I just need to see what to do with you, pal."

* * *

 **The next day.**

The tournament was back in action, and this time, Ash Ketchum was on the first list of participants for the second level of the Eliminations. There had been a lot of speculation on the identity of the mystery pokémon that would be awarded to the Top-4, resulting in a rise in enthusiasm amongst the participants, especially considering that the winner would get a direct entry in the Top-32, a mind-boggling thing.

Currently, he was facing a trainer from Goldenrod City of Johto, who had, from the rumours, literally devastated the last match with an abnormally powerful Raichu, defeating the opponent's Hit-mon-Chan and Wartortle without breaking a sweat. The trainer, Jimmy Matthews, was a dangly, tall guy that would've reminded Ash of Lt. Surge, only if the man wasn't just as large. Strangely enough, both of them had a Raichu as their prime battler.

 _What's it with tall guys and Raichu? Did that Pikachu try to electrocute me because I wasn't tall enough?_ Ignoring the sarcastic thought popping up in his mind, Ash selected a pokeball from his belt, waiting for the referee to start the battle.

"Trainer Red will choose first." The white-clad referee declared, turning towards Jimmy, who was standing in the red position.

"Win the battle for me, Raichu!" Jimmy exploded, as he threw Raichu's pokeball into the centre of the battlefield, releasing the final evolution of the Pichu line, as the large, overgrown mouse stood on her hind limbs, her large tail liberating generous amounts of electric sparks out of it.

Ash had a small smile on his face as he remembered his battle at Vermillion city. It was time to bring out his heavy-hitter. "I choose you, Rhydon!"

With a roar, Rhydon stomped into the podium, flexing his arms as he stood, glaring at the yellowish mouse before him. Almost on cue, Raichu seemed to flex her own limbs as a response, lashing her tail on the floor, making a deep scratch on it.

"A Rhydon, eh?" Jimmy asked, "Think type-advantage will be enough to beat me and Raichu?"

Ash returned a smirk. "I'll just take any advantage I can get."

"So be it," Jimmy declared, "Raichu, show them that type-advantage isn't everything. Use thunderbolt."

The counter attack didn't need any aid from Ash. Rhydon's evolution itself had been influenced by an overdose of electric-type attacks. The Rhydon, instinctively knew what to do in this situation.

Just as expected, Rhydon stomped forward, taking the entire discharge head-on, while at the same time, slamming the ground powerfully, as the raw power of Earthquake shot through the podium, scoring a direct hit on Raichu.

"Use Rock Tomb!" Ash calmly ordered.

Another powerful attack through its powerful hind limbs, as the entire podium shattered midway between the two opponents, raising the concrete upwards. The rest, for Ash, was almost like nostalgia. Rhydon spun its tail around, and slammed it against the fragments, all of them projected towards the electric mouse.

"Raichu, counter with iron tail." Jimmy ordered, as the electric-type, somewhat disoriented by the effects of the earthquake, leapt off the ground, and began to smash the incoming barrage into smithereens. Apparently, Jimmy must have evolved his Raichu pretty early, considering it wasn't half as fast as Surge's beast.

That was all that Ash needed. It was time to employ a move that Rhyhorn had learnt but never managed to use effectively because of his anatomy.

"Flamethrower!"

With a roar of blinding fury, Rhydon opened his maw and belched out powerful flames, scoring another direct hit on Raichu, who was too busy trying to beat away the concrete fragments. The flames struck him face-first, burning her skin as the mouse fell down on the ground, her fur charred at several places.

The referee raised the blue flag. "Raichu is unable to battle. The winner is, Rhydon!"

Rhydon let out a roar of triumph.

"Your Rhydon is rather well-trained." Jimmy observed. "Let's see how it deals with my next pokémon." He plucked out another pokeball and released it. "Go, Wartortle."

 _As expected._ Ash thought. _Rhydon still has to get rid of his weakness against water. Hmmm… might have to step-up his training in that regard._

"Rhydon, return!" Ash commanded, sucking the giant beast back into his pokeball. It wouldn't do to simply waste Rhydon's power against a type that held a distinct advantage against him. On second thought, if Jimmy already had a water-type, why didn't he change pokémon and go for it the first time?

The answer was pretty simple. Doing so, would reveal all of his cards.

A sly grin formed on Ash's face. "I choose you, Crawdaunt!"

As the red light from the pokeball dispersed, Crawdaunt materialised on the battle field, raising his pincers in an intimidating manner as he grunted his name out.

"A Crawdaunt." Jimmy inspected. "Haven't seen one of these guys in a long time. You want to battle my water-type with a water-type?"

Ash didn't bother to give him a reply, save a shrug.

"It's your funeral." Jimmy declared. "Wartortle, show them the power of a real water-type. Use water-gun."

"Dodge, and use Aqua jet." Ash returned, withholding back a smirk. It was one of those rare moves that Crawdaunt knew, but lacked enough practice to pull off. After their… initial disagreement had been done with, Ash had put the crustacean through a rigorous effort to get the move perfected. It wasn't perfect yet, but enough to go by.

Unlike what the name suggested, Aqua Jet wasn't a water-based elemental attack. Instead, it was a physical, fighting-based move employed by water-types, to increase their speed momentarily to high levels, not unlike the move Extreme Speed.

Using its appendages to generate enough momentum, the crustacean leapt off to his right, avoiding the water gun attack, as he used Aqua jet, incrementing his speed to nigh-unbelievable levels, as he shot towards the turtle pokémon.

"Withdraw and use Rapid spin!" Jimmy warned.

It was a perfectly good move. A spinning wartortle was a powerful defence and offense at the same time. Against anyone else, it would be a good combination against a speed-attack. However, this was Crawdaunt, and he had his own moves ready.

"Use Crabhammer, full power!"

Crawdaunt's right pincer shone brightly, as he used his entire physical strength, augmented by his own momentum thanks to Aqua jet, into slamming the powerful pincer towards the spinning shell of Wartortle, banishing the spinning turtle far away as it slammed against the psychic shields surrounding the podium.

"Wartortle!" Jimmy yelled in shock.

"Ice beam." Ash commanded quickly, as Crawdaunt raised another pincer, as a mist of white light materialised within it. With a loud screech, Crawdaunt projected it towards the fallen turtle, enveloping it with white light. When the light had receded, Wartortle was encased within a thick layer of ice.

 _What a way to master ice-beam!_ Ash thought.

"Wartortle is unable to battle. Crawdaunt is the winner." The referee declared, raising the blue flag. "Ash Ketchum moves to the next round."

Ash smiled, fondly looking at the way Crawdaunt was basking in hi triumph. Then again, the grumpy crustacean kind of needed it.

Besides, it wasn't all that bad. After all, one more battle and he would in in the Top-32, and then, the main competition would begin.

* * *

 **AN: A little short chapter, I know, but I need the rest in another chapter. Ash doesn't seem to be able to stick with an electric-type, no matter what happens. Also, our favourite Sinnoh Champion makes an entry in the next chapter. If anyone has any suggestions for the battles, or any particular trainer from Canon to show up, please let me know ASAP. Also, any suggestions on the 8 mystery pokémon?**

 **AN 2: The MEWTWO question. Mewtwo in this story, is** _ **slightly**_ **different from the canon version, and I don't mean it the bad way. He's just… well, you have to wait and see. I can however, assure you this. This Mewtwo can kick the crap out of the Mewtwo featured in the anime.**

 **AN 3: The question about the NUMBER of pokémon Ash would catch. I cannot of course, PROMISE this, but I can** _ **almost**_ **assure you that Ash will not** _ **catch**_ **more than thirteen pokémon before the Indigo League ends.**

 **Constructive reviews and suggestions are highly appreciated.**


	9. Change

" _What is this pokémon, Mr. Astolfo?" She asked, string at the tiny little pokémon in the person's hands. It looked like a shark-like pokémon, only it had two tiny hind limbs to stand upon. The entirety of its body had a bright blue shade. Its jaws were so large, that she couldn't help but wonder if it would topple over should it open its haws while standing._

" _This, my dear Miss Shirona, is a Gible." Her favourite professor beamed at her. "You know of my clan, right?"_

" _Yes, the Wataru. You told me that." The little girl laughed, holding her palm on her lips. "Astolfo Wataru, what an odd name."_

 _The man snorted. "Well, Astolfo isn't really my true name, per se. It's just a name I have taken to leave my old self back at my clan village." The man paused. This wasn't a time to be nostalgic about his own past. "However, this Gible, is-"_

 _The twelve-year-old snorted again._

" _Anything funny?" Astolfo asked, raising his eyebrows._

" _Nah—thing of that sort." Cynthia continued despite her giggles, "It's just a funny name. Gible!"_

 _The little land-shark pokémon gave an annoyed bark at that._

 _Cynthia giggled again at its antics._

 _Astolfo looked halfway amused. "Well, that it is, but it is a dragon species, and grows up into a mighty dragon, one that is known as Garchomp."_

 _Cynthia's eyes widened as large as saucers. "Garchomp? Like the one you have?"_

 _The man nodded. Garchomp were, in general, one of the most powerful of all dragon kind, their might almost unparalleled except by the likes of Salamence of Hoenn, and the beast known as Hydreigon in the far reaches of Unova. "Yes, and more. This Gible, my dear, is very special. His colour, if you notice, is a very bright shade of blue, a contrast to most Gible who have a more subdued version of that shade. This is what… you might know as Shiny."_

" _A shiny pokémon?" The twelve-year-old princess of the Shirona name, looked at him in awe. "This is really a shiny pokémon?"_

" _Yes, it is, and that is why, I wish for you to have it." He paused, "as your starter."_

" _A… shiny dragon, as my starter?"_

" _If you agree to a condition."_

 _Cynthia raised her eyebrows, trying to look intimidating like only a twelve-year-old could. "Which is?"_

" _You will never tame another dragon in your life."_

* * *

Cynthia Shirona, the princess to the Shirona fortune, was the youngest Champion of the Sinnoh region, a title she had claimed at a mere age of sixteen, just four years after she began her life as a trainer. She had kept her promise to the man she once knew as Mr. Astolfo, a man she never managed to land her eyes on after that day, a man who had given her, the pokémon who would go ahead to become one of the most feared of his kind in Sinnoh.

 _My shiny Garchomp._

True to her word, she had gone ahead to capture several pokémon during her life as a trainer, and trained them to the level that they became powerful in their own way, though never had she cast aspersions on her starter, nor had she broken her promise to acquire more dragon-type pokémon.

And now she was the Champion, a title that, until very recently, belonged to Brenden, the reigning Champion of Sinnoh for the last ten years. A month ago, just after the Indigo League had come to an end, she had challenged the Champion to a six-on-six battle, after her victory against the Sinnoh Elite four.

" _Empoleon is unable to battle. The winner, is Garchomp!"_

And her life had never really been the same since that day.

The first two weeks had been a lot of congratulations from all over the world, though she had figured a slight amount of… disdain from the Kanto Champion Lance, not that it wasn't hard to discern that. A single meet with the Kanto Champion, and it had been clear that Lance didn't really have high expectations of her.

 _And not without due reason._

Then, the second step of the Kanto-Hoenn exchange came to be. The St. Anne cruise ship, which was returning from Alola, would stop at Sinnoh for around six hours, and it was requested that the Sinnoh Champion, along with some of the Elite Four, be a part of the trip, considering that a lot of trainers from Sinnoh were going to be participating in the Tournament event that was to be held when everyone was finally aboard. Cynthia had happily climbed aboard, but when it came to the Elite Four, the reaction was just as irritating as she had anticipated it to be.

" _You are the new Champion, and it's only been days. Please enjoy the trip. The Elite Four will be able to manage Sinnoh just fine, in your absence…."_

She could have sworn that each of the Elite Four wanted to finish that line with a single word.

 _Airhead._

"Lady Shirona?"

Cynthia let out a long-suffering sigh. Apparently, being the Champion wasn't as fun as she had anticipated it to be. While she did acquire the position of the Head of Defense in the Sinnoh region, her… age became her biggest liability. The Champion were assisted by various servants and assistants, and said servants just had to be one of those kind who thought that the _sixteen-year-old_ needed directions for everything in her life.

"Yes, Miranda?" Cynthia replied with her practiced, fake smile. Come to think of it, she had been using the _smile consistently_ since she began battling against the Elite Four of Sinnoh.

"You have been in your room all day, Lady Shirona. It would do you good to get out and enjoy the cruise as it is." Miranda replied in a no-nonsense tone.

 _Right. After all, sitting in the balcony, watching the waves, isn't part of the Cruise._

"I am perfectly happy sitting here in the balcony."

"But my lady, there are so many people out there. You could go to the deck and meet new people from the other regions. A champion needs to be popular both in her own region and beyond."

 _Right, I knew I should have gotten a book on 'Living as a Champion 101'._

Cynthia felt her Pokenav vibrate, as she pulled it out of her pocket.

 **9 challenges from Ace trainers.**

 **4 challenges from Elite Four.**

She sighed. _Yes Cynthia, you are so popular. So popular that already the Elite Four want an attempt to get rid of you._

The maid-servant stared at the indecisive Champion for a while, before sighing inwardly. "You could always go and try out the ice-cream flavours. I'm told that the one on the deck has quite the collection."

Now _that,_ grabbed Cynthia's attention. "I guess… it wouldn't be too bad to get myself an ice-cream right now. I've been here for the whole day anyway."

"Very sharp, my lady." The maid-servant muttered. "If you please?"

With an absent look on her face, the newest Sinnoh Champion sped past the servant, leaving the room empty for her.

* * *

Back on the deck, the third and final rounds of the Eliminations were going on. Ash Ketchum found himself standing, this time as the Blue Trainer, staring ahead at his opponent for the day, a brown-haired female from Viridian City. Said trainer, Amelia, was apparently one of the best trainers in Viridian, and was trying for the Indigo League the second time round. She had tried her luck at the League the previous year, and gotten eliminated in the Top-32 battle, against an opponent who then got defeated in the semi-finals. Needless to say, Amelia had a lot of training under her belt and defeating her wouldn't be easy.

 _Well, no point complaining when you have a job to do._ Ash thought demurely. "I choose you, Pidgeotto."

The flash of red left his pokeball, as the avian soared up into the sky, before gaining a comfortable altitude from where she stared down at the opponent, her dark eyes literally challenging the girl to try defeat her with her pokémon.

"A Pidgeotto, huh? Well, my pokémon couldn't have asked for any better." Amelia smirked. "Go, Fearow."

The beak pokémon materialised in front of Ash, its brownish shades and long, pointy wings spread wide, as it took to air. Ash noticed a sudden glow in its eyes as it stared at Pidgeotto, who also had a sudden tinge of red in her own.

 _Of course. Fearow and Pidgeotto are antagonistic to each other by nature. How did I even forget?_ Ash glanced back at Amelia, who had a not-so-subtle grin on her face. _Very well, you want a battle? You have it._

"Pidgeotto, this is a matter of your own honour." Ash claimed, surprising Pidgeotto who looked down at Ash with something… strange in her eyes. Her trainer had never really considered things like _honour_ or _pride_ before this. Ash was obsessed with training, and growing stronger, both for himself and his team. It suited Pidgeotto just fine, though the fact that her trainer cared about her own personal honour did increase his value by several notches in her mind.

The avian let out a war cry as she swooped down to glide in front of the Fearow, who spread her wings even higher and further, showing her whose territory it was.

Pidgeotto gave the Fearow a thin glare. _I'll show this half-baked crane whose territory it is._

"Get closer and use peck, Pidgeotto!" Ash commanded.

Amelia smirked. "As if. Fearow, fly towards Pidgeotto, use swift."

The two avians seemed to be getting closer and closer towards a head-on collision.

"Use pursuit." Amelia commanded, as Fearow's eyes glowed dangerously.

Ash frowned. Either Amelia was dangerously confident of Fearow's ability to defeat Pidgeotto, or… she is simply underestimating the competition. "Use Pursuit as well."

 _Now, no one's going anywhere._ He decided. "Dodge, and go with the drill. Use Aerial Ace."

"Use Aerial Ace as well."

The two avians soared up towards the heavens, and came down upon each other, like two airborne missiles as their beaks snapped on each other, before the two pushed back, and repeated the previous movement over and over again.

"Pidgeotto, use Steel wing."

"Fearow, show them a real Steel wing."

The two avians clashed against each other, all over again, their wings, each tensed up to match the intensity and sheer power of steel, landed upon the other. It seemed like Amelia was more of a reactive-aggressive player, making sure that Fearow mirror Pidgeotto's every single attack, playing upon Fearow's sheer size would contribute to her momentum more than Pidgeotto, who happened to be considerably smaller.

"Alright, let's finish this. Use steel wing, one more time." Ash yelled.

"Get closer." Amelia commanded, surprising Ash. The moment they were close enough, Amelia yelled, "Use Hyper beam!"

 _Shit!_ Ash cursed, "Pidgeotto, use double-team, now."

"What?" Amelia yelled in surprise. Unfortunately, the hyper beam was now ready, and despite Fearow's attempts, having several dozens of illusory avians flying towards Fearow at high speeds didn't make it a good situation for hyper beam to have any effective use.

"Steel-wing, full power!"

"Fearow, use mirror move, now!" Amelia yelled, as Ash stood flabbergasted. Pidgeotto slammed into Fearow, as mirror move activated, returning back the same move back to Pidgeotto, and using her own momentum against her. The two avians felt the raw power of steel wing shock their innards, as partial paralysis of their bodies took place, making the two avians fall towards the ground.

"Pidgeotto!" Ash cried, as he raised his pokeball and returned her quickly before she fell. Fearow however, wasn't so lucky, and slammed into the ground before Amelia could return it into her pokeball.

"Fearow is unable to battle." The referee declared. "Blue Trainer, will you continue with your pokémon?"

Ash shook his head. Even if there was a chance that Pidgeotto would have something left in her to continue battling, she was already wounded. There was no point releasing her once again.

"Red trainer, choose your next pokémon." The referee continued in his monotone.

Amelia glared at the man darkly. "I am going to, anyway." With a scowl, she threw another pokeball to the ground. "Go, Charmeleon."

Ash scowled.

* * *

Cynthia stood amongst the audience the psychic-based water-droplet-shaped earrings she had started wearing upon becoming Champion serving their purpose. Apparently, it was customary for a defeated Champion to have a certain… psychic-based jewellery forged for the next Champion on their ascension. These… jewellery were specially crafted to create a form of psychic barrier between the wearer and their surroundings, making it _quite difficult_ to _recognize_ them, unless they were looking too closely or already knew the wearer on a personal level. These artefacts allowed the Champions to freely travel in near anonymity all over the region, without provoking public excitement in the masses. Needless to say, they were dead useful for missions that required a certain level of secrecy and camouflage.

Ash Ketchum. That was the trainer's name. Over the last two matches, he had displayed a ruthless efficiency in battle, something Cynthia knew all too well. Despite her… rather indecisive nature over other things, she had a one-track mind, and employed tunnel vision when it came to battling, something that she was beginning to realize that this young man also had within him.

"Interesting." She muttered.

* * *

"Blue Trainer, please choose your pokémon, or be disqualified." The referee rebuked at Ash, considering that the trainer from Pallet was blankly staring at the pokémon in front of him.

On hearing the man's words, Ash scowled, as he unlocked a pokeball from his belt, before releasing the pokémon within. "I choose you, Poliwhirl."

Poliwhirl bounced upon the ground, drawling his name out, as he stared at the evolved form of Charmander.

"Poliwhirl versus Charmeleon," the referee uttered, "begin!"

"Flamethrower!" Amelia commanded.

"Jump," Ash returned, as Poliwhirl jumped off the ground, his powerful hind limbs supplying him more than enough momentum to leave the ground, escaping Charmeleon's flamethrower completely. "—and use bubble beam."

The plan worked perfectly, as Charmeleon who was still dousing the ground with his constant flow of flames, stood completely vulnerable to the bubble-beam attack from above, hitting the fire lizard right in the face, banishing him on the gr0und.

Ash however, wasn't done yet. "Follow up with Earthquake."

Poliwhirl, according to his instructions, dropped down to the ground, and used his entire weight to induce powerful seismic waves on the podium, as the earthquake move scored a point against Charmeleon, who was still on the ground.

"Charmeleon, get up and use Fire Blast!"

"Water pulse!" Ash bellowed, as the powerful opposite elemental moves crashed into each other, creating a viable smokescreen between them, something Ash knew how to use for his benefit perfectly. It was something that he had come up with in the last few days.

* * *

" _Poliwhirl, I know you are fast on water. But on land, you are at a disadvantage. So, we need to get you a move that would allow you to trick an opponent in a land fight._

 _Poliwhirl was only too happy to carry it out. He was a trickster by nature, and his trainer truly spoiled him that way._

 _Ash held out a magnetic disc in front of him. "This… is the TM for Double-team, and I got it specifically for you. I need you to practice this move as much as you can, enough that you can get it done in a second's thought, much like you can do with ice beam. When you are done, we will get you started on your trickster technique."_

 _Poliwhirl had a shit-eating grin on his large face._

* * *

"Poliwhirl," Ash yelled in the smoke, "do your _technique_ , and go ahead with a double-slap!"

Amelia scoffed. What was this trainer thinking? "Charmeleon, use Fire blast straight ahead on Poliwhirl."

From within the smoke, Charmeleon spotted the figure of Poliwhirl jumping across the smoke-covered podium, his fist raised at him. The flames on his tail burned brighter, as Charmeleon took a couple of seconds, before letting out an extremely powerful Fire blast, which slammed into Poliwhirl-

And traversed _through him._

Amelia shrieked in surprise. "Charmeleon, look out-"

"Now!" Ash yelled, as a powerful Ice beam shot from the opposite end, striking at Charmeleon from the back, freezing half of his body effectively.

"Only one shot, Poliwhirl." Ash exclaimed, knowing that Poliwhirl wouldn't be able to last longer after using a power-consuming move like ice beam. "Use double slap, full power!"

Poliwhirl let out a guttural gurgle from his throat as he jumped off the ground, before slamming into a trapped Charmeleon with both hands, as the powerful punches struck him hard, slamming him down to the ground.

"Water pulse!" Ash continued, his face devoid of emotion. "Again!"

The first water-pulse hit Charmeleon head-on once again, throwing him towards the psychic barrier, while the latter hit him in the abdomen, sending him completely unconscious.

Silence pervaded all around the podium for five seconds.

"That…." Amelia replied, "-was brutal." She looked up towards Ash. "You sure you don't have any impulsive vendetta against my Charmeleon, Ash?"

"Uh…. No." Ash replied uncertainly. He wasn't sure what had come over him for a second, but either way, a win was a win.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle. Poliwhirl wins." The referee declared. "Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town moves to the Top-32."

Cheers ran abound, and between the crowds, a certain blonde-haired female smiled.

* * *

 **Back in his room.**

"Alright, guys. I'm going to get Lairon out from his pokeball. Please be good to him, alright?" Ash requested, as all of his pokémon stood in the room, waiting for him to release their newest member.

"Alright," He took a breath. "Go, Lairon."

With a powerful stomp onto the floor, Lairon stood, his head upward as he let out a grunt, drawling his name out rather exuberantly.

"Right," Ash took a step forward, "Lairon, my name is Ash, and from now onwards, I am going to be your new trainer."

Apparently, Lairon had other things in mind, as he decided to ignore Ash's comments and pull his head downwards, before starting ahead on a tackle. He had just crossed two steps when two extremely strong hands held him back from coming any further. Letting out a groan, Lairon looked up, and found Ash still a few feet away, and standing between him and his apparently _new_ trainer was a hulking Rhydon, his two large paws holding Lairon's own protrusions back, making the steel-type unable to move.

With exaggerated slowness, Rhydon gurgled his own name, before shaking his head.

Lairon looked away, as he ceased his attempts to tackle Ash.

Never, never let it be said that the lack of speech ever prevented Rhydon from getting his point across. Then again, it helped that he only had a couple of items in his list of expressions. Most of the rest was solved by a powerful horn attack or worse, an earthquake.

"Thank you, Rhydon." Ash commented, slightly amused at the exchange of information between the two large, rock-types. "So, Lairon, your previous trainer Morrison traded you to me yesterday, and so, I'd like to be your trainer."

Lairon gave a grunt. Was this human a little addled? He had just mentioned that Morrison had traded him. Didn't that make things clear?

Ash chuckled at Lairon's expression. "Let me try that again. I know that officially, you are now my pokémon. However, I didn't defeat you in battle, nor proved my superiority to you in any way. But as you can see, my Rhydon is very powerful, and he only recently evolved from being a rhyhorn. If you decide to follow my commands and train with the rest of my family, I promise that I'll make you into the strongest Aggron possible."

Lairon raised his head at the final comment. Like most types, he too wanted to grow powerful, and among ground-types, the one with the most power was the ruler of the herd. So, it was obvious that following the new trainer's commands was a good way to go. Not that he had any better alternatives available.

"I'm also told that you love to battle." Ash continued.

Lairon grunted in agreement.

"Would you join my team, if I told you, I'd make you battle until _you_ are tired, _every single day?"_

Lairon decided then and there. _Fuck Morrison._ He _loved_ his new trainer.

* * *

"Al right, Bagon, that's enough. You got your ice-cream now let me have mine." Ash chided his starter, not that it had any effect, since Bagon tried another jump, this time managing to bite off half the cone from Ash's hand, making his trainer look at him with mock-anger.

The trainer from Pallet and his starter had come walking to the deck to spend some time together, and had discovered, much to Ash's horror, about Bagon's undying love for ice-cream. It had only been thirty seconds, and the little monster had gulped down two entire buckets of ice-cream.

Three hundred and seventy pokedollars. In _thirty_ seconds.

"That, is beyond you, it seems." Ash scowled, as Bagon gurgled in happiness, having had its favourite meal on the planet. "How on earth did you-"

"That's one cute Bagon you have."

Ash looked up at the source of the feminine voice, and found himself staring at a black-clad blonde-haired girl, of around his own age. Said person was staring at the little monster with interest in her eyes.

"Yes, and a murder on my pocket." Ash scowled.

"Well dragons are pretty high-maintenance." The girl answered, her smile still on her face. "Everything gets paid back at the end, though."

"Saying from experience?"

"You might say so." Cynthia tilted her head, before kneeling down and caressing Bagon in the head, as the monster looked like he was about to dissolve into mush.

"Whoa, that's impressive," Ash returned, surprised at Bagon's reaction. "Bagon isn't exactly the most trusting to strangers."

Cynthia gave a lop-sided smirk. "It's all from experience."

"I'm Ash," Ash took a step forward, as he reached out with his hand.

"Shirona," Cynthia replied, shaking it. "Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Are you also participating in the tournament?"

Cynthia frowned. "As much as I would like, not really. I'm here with the League Envoys from Sinnoh. I do like battling, but when do we always get what we want?"

"I guess…" Ash replied, his eyes slightly nostalgic.

"So, where are you from?"

"I'm from Pallet Town. It's here in Kanto region."

"Pallet Town." Cynthia repeated. "Isn't that where Professor Samuel Oak resides in?"

"You know Professor Oak?" Ash asked, flabbergasted. He had been surprised when he had found that Harrison knew Oak, but for someone from as far away as Sinnoh to do the same… it was surprising.

"Of course." Cynthia replied, "Professor Rowan of Sinnoh does a lot of collaborative research work with him. Besides, his contribution to the development of the modern Pokeball literally changed the world, didn't it?"

That was true. Prior to Oak's invention, pokeballs used to be custom made from certain woods, and were highly expensive, and at the same time, built for specific pokémon only. It was only because of Oak's discovery of the concept of _folded space,_ did mass production of pokeballs actually begin.

Ash nodded in agreement. "My mom works as Professor Oak's assistant. I've known the professor all my life. He was the one who gave me Bagon, my starter."

"Ah," Cynthia realized, "I was wondering why a Kanto trainer would have a Bagon, which are found only in Hoenn, and even then, quite rare."

Bagon puffed his chest up with pride, causing Cynthia to giggle at his antics.

"Please do not encourage him." Ash pleaded.

"Are you trying for the Indigo league then?" Cynthia asked, changing the conversation.

"Yeah, I started off a month ago."

"A month?" Cynthia raised her eyebrows. "Then you must have had some serious training done in a while. Your pokémon hardly appear newbies."

Ash looked a tad embarrassed. "Well, I'm trying to cut short the training and have some fun too."

Cynthia chuckled. "That's true as well." She paused as she looked up wistfully. "Though I can understand the innate joy of getting one's pokémon to grow powerful."

"Joy." Ash repeated, a little of nostalgia seeping into his voice. He hadn't really thought of pokémon training as _joyful._ He only wanted them to grow stronger.

"You don't agree?" Cynthia asked, interested.

"I just… I train my pokémon because they have their own goals to attain. Bagon for example, wants to become a mighty Salamence and scour the eyes someday. My Poliwhirl… he was a little trickster as a Poliwag, and I guess he just wants to learn more ways of pulling tricks, than showering me with water gun every time I released him."

Cynthia snorted at that.

"And you have a _shiny_ Pidgeotto, too, no?"

"Eheheh!" Ash chuckled lightly. "You noticed that?"

Cynthia didn't reply.

"Well, Pidgeotto has her own range of issues to deal with, and so do all of my pokémon. I just… want them to achieve their own goals on the path of becoming stronger as a team."

"And what about your own?"

Ash smiled. A simple, honest smile. "I am just hoping to discover my own purpose while helping my team achieve theirs."

Cynthia opened her mouth, then closed it. Whatever she had expected of Ash to say, this, definitely, was not it. The person talking to her, was completely unlike the person who had just thrashed an opponent a while ago at the tournament.

"That's…." Cynthia didn't know what to say.

"It's kind of lame, I know." Ash looked away, staring at the heavens where Pidgeotto was soaring in the sky. Her injuries from the tournament had been healed and Ash had let her out to enjoy.

Cynthia glanced at the interesting young man in front of her, trying to place why he felt slightly… familiar, though she couldn't make the connection. "Hey, would you like to have an ice-cream?"

Ash looked back in surprise, opening his mouth to express his thoughts, but the offer, had apparently been a limited-period one, since Cynthia had already shifted to the next individual.

Said individual being the monster of a baby dragon who looked upbeat at the mention of ice-cream.

"So Bagon," Cynthia addressed the little monster, "Would you like to have some ice-cream?"

Ash face-palmed.

* * *

With the end of the Elimination rounds, the real event of the Clubsplosion was finally in place, as thirty-two trainers had been able to defeat their opponents and made it, this far, into the tournament. The speed and sheer effectiveness with which the entire deck had been _literally rearranged_ overnight left Ash gaping in wonder. The four podiums were gone, and in their place, was a single, large, elevated platform, with two separate podiums for the trainers to stand on either end of the large platform, which would be used as the battleground from now on. Even the outer periphery had been modified, now enlarged to incorporate space for a larger audience, now that the number of participants was merely thirty-two, and it would grow lesser by the hour.

"So, Ash, ready for the main deal?" Harrison slapped his back jovially, underestimating his own strength as Ash nearly fell down face-first.

"Yeah, I was, until that fatal attack on my backbone." Ash scowled, rubbing his back absently, much to Harrison's snorting.

The two were gazing at the list of participants for the Top-32 battles. Ash was going to face a certain Casey, a girl from Johto, who, in appeared was obsessed with striped pokémon. Casey had an Electabuzz, a Chikorita, and a Beedrill. It says that her Electabuzz was able to defeat most of her opponents single-handedly."

"Must be one hell of an Electabuzz." Harrison whistled. "Electabuzz are fairly powerful pokémon, you know. Their evolutions are almost the pinnacle of electric-type."

 _Of course they would be._ Ash scowled inwardly, as his eyes scanned down the list of names for Harrison, "you are… fighting Ethan, from Ecruteak City. He has a… Gastly, a Kadabra and a Growlithe? That's a rather solid team, Harrison."

"Well, not everyone gets to battle weaklings." Harrison mocked in what Ash recognized as Paul's mannerisms. "Some of us have to battle real opponents out there."

"Of course." Ash drawled. "Though if you are fighting Kadabra, I suggest you something that has an adverse effect on the senses. Kadabra are especially vulnerable to anything of that sort."

"You are awfully knowledgeable about psychic pokémon for a rookie, you know that?" Harrison replied bleakly.

"Blame my mom."

"One would think you'd have started off with a psychic as your starter. I mean, I know you have Metang but still-"

"Yeah," Ash replied in a light tone. "I am almost surprised that my mom didn't get me one of her dear psychic types as a starter, back then."

"Excuse me," a male voice came from behind him, pushing a hand towards the list as the person continued, "can you please let-Ash?"

"Ritchie?" Ash realized, turning around to face the trainer, the first person he had had a pokémon battle with. "You are on this ship, too?"

"Yeah…" Ritchie drawled, as if it was obvious. "How come I didn't notice you all this while?"

"Ash has a habit of vanishing away to his room after his matches." Harrison put in, smirking. "The poor guy doesn't have enough time to even watch my own battles."

"That was just one match, and you know that." Ash retorted, before turning to Ritchie. "Ignore what he says. He's Harrison by the way."

Harrison tilted his head in recognition.

"You guys are travelling together?"

Ash and Harrison looked at each other, as if verifying the truth behind that statement. "Something like that."

Ritchie snorted.

"Well, I plan to get off after the tournament is over, and maybe go to Celadon." Ash emphasized.

"And you?" Ritchie asked.

"I'm gonna travel as long as possible." Harrison replied dreamily.

Ritchie snorted again. "Then that makes the two of us."

"Right, you guys have enough badges in hand, and can travel for _fun_ as long as you like." Ash murmured.

"Don't be like that, Ash. You are the one with the great ambitions, not me." Harrison teased.

"Of course." Ash drawled.

* * *

"The next match is between Ash and Casey." The commentator briefed everyone. Now that the main battles were taking place, the rules had been altered to a considerable extent. For one, the matches were all going to be a three-on-three instead of a two-on-two match. "Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town of Kanto vs Casey from Cherrygrove city of Johto."

The battle platform in front of them was a rock-type, littered with rock fragments and fallen stones all around, a perfect ground for a rock-type to battle on.

"This is going to be a three-on-three pokémon battle. Rotations are allowed." The referee declared, before raising the red flag. "Red trainer, release your pokémon."

Ash, who was standing on the Red podium, plucked out his first choice for the match, and yelled, "I choose you, Metang!"

"And Ash Ketchum has chosen Metang, the iron claw pokémon. So far in the tournament, this pokémon has won every single battle. How will Casey deal with Metang's abilities?" The commentary went on.

"Go, Beedril." Casey, who was wearing a yellow shirt with black stripes, and a similar-patterned hat, and holding a whip in her hand, yelled.

"And Casey has chosen Beedril, the poison bee pokémon." The commentator went on. "Is Casey expecting to take advantage of the bug typing?"

 _Beedrill huh? So she's relying on her type advantage. On the other hand, psychic-types hold an advantage over poison types. Quite the combination._ Ash thought inwardly. "All right, Metang. Use Supersensory."

Metang closed its eyes and flooded psy waves radially outward, the waves spreading throughout the platform.

 _Good. This will aid us._

"Beedrill, use fury attack and twineedle."

 _The classic attack._ Ash thought demurely. "Harden, and use horn attack."

Metang shone for a second as its bone density reached alarmingly high values, before using its psychic power to create momentum for a powerful horn attack. Just as expected, Beedril's stingers slammed against Metang's horn, both trying to drill into the other.

"Now, bullet punch." Ash commanded.

"Beedrill, get out of-"

It was too late. Using its appendages on either side, Metang slammed powerful punches into Beedrill's gut, both punches occurring within the span of two seconds, making the bee pokémon screech in pain.

"Thunder punch, full power!"

Metang roared with a mechanical noise, its right appendage glowing, electricity running all over it, as it slammed its claw into Beedrill's abdomen once again, making the bug-type slam into the ground, disoriented.

"Beedrill is unable to battle. The winner is Metang." The referee announced.

"And Metang continues its unbeatable streak. But will it go on against Casey's next pokémon?" The commentary ran.

"Beedril, return." Casey scowled. "You won't be able to defeat my next pokémon. Go, Electabuzz."

The pokémon in front of Ash was a bipedal feline, though it stood on its powerful hind limbs, and its entire body was striped with black shades on its yellow fur. The two protruding horns on its head were discharging electricity.

"This is becoming monotonous." Ash uttered with a frown. He was getting tired of beating the pump out of electric-types using his Rhydon. "I want to finish this quickly, Metang. Deal with it."

Casey raised an eyebrow at her opponent's casual display of arrogance. "Electabuzz, let's show him what you are capable of. Use thunderbolt."

"Psychic," Ash commanded, his emotionless expression returning. "Deflect that bolt back to Electabuzz."

Just as Ash commanded, Metang deflected the bolt of electricity back to Electabuzz, who watched as the entire power of its own attack came raging towards it.

"Use the thunderbolt to fuel your own thunder punch!" Ash went on, as Metang flew towards Electabuzz, creating a powerful thunder-punch as it slammed its appendage towards Electabuzz.

"Take the hit." Casey replied with a smile.

"What?" Ash looked surprised, as Electabuzz gave a maniacal grin.

The moment the bolt of electricity came blazing towards the electric-type, it ate it up. Electabuzz were, by nature, voracious feeders of electric charge, so much that they are even used as lightning-rods at some places. However, a peculiar ability demonstrated by the species is _static,_ which imparts paralytic damage on the opponent if the oncoming move is _physical_ , which in this case, happened to be Metang.

Thunder punch, by definition, didn't really have any significant damage to Electabuzz, but the same couldn't be said for Metang, who zoomed in and out, because of the effects of the reversal.

"Now use Zap Cannon." Casey replied with conviction.

Electabuzz roared as its two hands glowed brightly, before creating a powerful ball of light, and projecting it towards a slightly disoriented Metang, who took a direct hit from it, as it sent it slamming into one of the rocks.

"Metang, can you get up?" Ash pleaded, horrified by the turn of events.

Metang made a noise that demonstrated pain, but it somehow floated up. It seemed, the iron claw pokémon, still had some strength left in it despite the devastating attack.

"All right," Ash replied, gritting his teeth. His own overconfidence had almost cost him a loss. "Metang, stay to the defensive. Use psychic."

Metang made another groan and threw a beam of psy energy towards Electabuzz.

"Return with zap cannon." Casey commanded. It seemed Electabuzz had, in no way, run out of power, as it returned another bolt of destructive power towards Metang. The two powerful attacks slammed into each other, enveloping the entire area with smoke.

"Metang!" Ash yelled.

Metang made another groan to show that it was still up and running.

 _None of Metang's attacks are going to work on Electabuzz, and Casey seems to be playing defensively. The more I draw it out, the more Metang grows weaker. Damn it!_

Ash held out his pokeball. "Metang, return for now."

"And Ash Ketchum is forced to rotate his pokémon. This is probably the first time Metang has come closer to a defeat." The commentator went on.

Ash grit his teeth. _Electabuzz cannot keep its static ability maintained for long. I need long-ranged attacks that can disable this pokémon._

"Red Trainer, please choose your next pokémon." The referee warned.

"Yes, I am," Ash scowled, before selecting his next pokémon. _This will be tricky._ "Go, Bagon."

The baby dragon materialized in front of Electabuzz, his head shining brightly like steel.

"Alright, Bagon, this one will be tricky. Follow my commands to the point."

Bagon screeched in agreement.

"Dragon Pulse." Ash began.

"Electabuzz, return with Electro Ball."

"Dodge." Ash commanded, as Bagon dodged to his back, avoiding the explosion caused by the two high-powered attacks.

"Electabuzz, it is time for close combat. Use focus punch on that little pokémon."

"Use Head-butt."

Casey smiled. "You never learn, Ash. Electabuzz, use static."

Ash smiled, watching with attention Bagon came inches close to Electabuzz's focus punch. "Change direction and use crunch on Electabuzz's arm."

"What?" Casey looked aback, as Bagon suddenly used the rocks on the ground to change direction midway, and use the dark move on Electabuzz's arm, breaking his arm bones using the powerful move. Electabuzz let the focus punch disintegrate as he howled in pain and fury.

"Electabuzz, use thunder on that Bagon for doing that to you."

Electabuzz liberated out all the electricity he had onto Bagon, and despite the powerful electricity coursing through his veins, Bagon did not relinquish his hold on the electric-type.

"Bagon!" Ash yelled. "Leave the arm and use dragon-pulse on Electabuzz."

Ignoring the pain in his limbs from the massive electrical attack, the tiny dragon let go off Electabuzz, before slamming another powerful pulse of draconic energy to the electric-type's face, the sheer momentum of the attack propelling him backwards as he hit a rock on his back.

"Electabuzz!" Casey yelled out, though her expressions shifted when she saw her battler still standing. "Use Zap cannon, one last time."

Electabuzz roared with all his rage, as he concentrated powerful electrical discharges into his fists, before sending the electrical shock wave towards Bagon.

"Bagon!" Ash exclaimed in horror, as zap cannon hit Bagon head-on. That was when it happened.

Bright light inundated the battle-ground, as Bagon's body began to shine white, as his features shifted, his body becoming more… oval, and his height increases by another foot by the minimum. The electric attack simply dispersed away into nothingness as Bagon- now Shelgon gave out a roar of draconic fury.

 **Shelgon. The Endurance pokémon. Covering Shelgon's body are outgrowths much like bones. The shell is very hard and bounces off enemy attacks. When awaiting evolution, this Pokémon hides away in a cavern.** Dexter crowed automatically.

"Shelgon." Ash whispered, before his senses returned to the battlefield. "Shelgon, use dragon pulse one more time."

Shelgon let out a screech, as he formed a much larger dragon-pulse, in front of his face, before projecting it towards Electabuzz, who was now too weak to dodge the attack. The consecutive zap cannons had wasted all of the electric-type's energy. The powerful draconic attack hit Electabuzz in the face, sending it straight to oblivion.

"Electabuzz is unable to battle. Shelgon is the winner."

"Damn!" Casey cursed, looking up at Ash. "That timely evolution saved your pokémon. Otherwise, it would have been my win."

Ash tilted his head in recognition of her comments, something that made the girl grow even more indignant.

"Go, Chikorita!" Casey yelled, revealing her last and final pokémon.

An extremely cute sauropod pokémon appeared in front of Ash and Shelgon. Chikorita had a pale white body coloration with a large, green leaf on her head. Surrounding her neck, were vine buds in a pattern of a necklace.

"Casey's last pokémon is a Chikorita. Can Chikorita win against Shelgon, and then defeat whatever mystery pokémon Ash has kept for his third battler?"

As if in answer, Chikorita sent a couple of razor leaf attacks towards Shelgon, which struck Shelgon's shell, before breaking away, making Chikorita glare at him in anger.

"Chikorita, use vine whip and lift Shelgon."

Only if it was that easy. While Bagon weighed somewhat around ninety pounds, evolution increased its mass by almost two times, reaching a high value of two hundred and fifty pounds, half of a full-grown Onix. The vine wrapped all around Shelgon as the grass-type did her best to pull him up.

"Use Dragon Pulse, Shelgon." Ash commanded, and almost instantly, a sphere of draconic energy hit Chikorita right in the face, sending her off, tumbling down towards the end of the rocky field.

"I forfeit." Casey spoke up suddenly.

"Are you sure?" The referee asked.

Casey nodded. Chikorita cannot defeat Shelgon, and Ash still has another pokémon unused, besides Metang. Continuing the battle would only drag it out, nothing else."

Ash stood shocked at that, before a tiny smile formed on his lips. "It was a good battle, Casey. Your Electabuzz was one tough nut."

"And don't you forget that." Casey scoffed, before recalling Chikorita and walking away.

"Casey has forfeited the battle. Ash Ketchum is the winner." The commentator yelled into his megaphone.

* * *

"That was one hell of a match, Ash." Harrison proclaimed. "There was a very good chance of you losing against Casey, if the Electro-ball had been able to get Bagon out of the battle. As Casey said, Bagon's timely evolution saved your ass."

"I know." Ash scowled. "I became over-confident. Lt. Surge is known to be brutal, and I won against him in my first try. The same happened with the magnemite cluster, in which Rhydon literally mauled them into the dust. Against that guy's Raichu too, it was the same. I guess… winning against electric-types so easily got to me."

"And you took that Electabuzz too casually." Harrison chided, his usually-jovial expression gone. Had Metang been rendered unconscious by Electabuzz, the entire match would have gone into Casey's favour. You were lucky that Shelgon took care of Electabuzz and Casey's last pokémon was Chikorita."

"I know, I know." Ash snapped. "That's what's been in my mind since the battle." He looked squarely at Harrison in the eye. "I should have recalled Metang and used Rhydon, and even if not that, I should have used Metang's abilities as a steel-type to put down Electabuzz. I guess, the win over Beedrill got me overconfident."

"I hope you won't suffer from such issues should we happen to battle in this tournament, Ash, because I'm not going to give away any advantage I can get. Your battling style so far taught me that."

Ash, unsurprisingly, didn't reply back.

"Have you checked out who your next opponent is?"

Ash nodded.

"So… out with it? Who's it?"

Ash stood up, and let out a deep sigh. "The Viridian city gym leader's own son. Silver."

* * *

 **AN: And the top-32 match gets over. Next match is against Silver. And shout-out to the reviewer who mentioned Ritchie as a participant in the contest. Also, Bagon is now a Shelgon.**

 **AN 2: I have decided on four names for the eight mystery pokémon so far, from the suggestions I have received. Those are: Absol, Ninetales, Altaria, and Ampharos. The next four pokémon need to be selected, and among them, Ash will get just one. So, get on with suggestions, people.**

 **AN 3: In case it isn't clear, I am going to draw out the story, and change a lot of canon facts. For example, I find it highly irritating that a psychic pokémon like Metagross isn't able to learn a move like TELEPORT when a fucking Exeggutor, Magmar, Electabuzz and even wee little Butterfree can. Also, you can expect a good amount of lore on the psychic/dark/ghost triangle.**

 **There's a hidden spoiler over there. Figure it out if you can.**

 **Constructive reviews and suggestions are very much appreciated.**


	10. The first of many

"I'm not sure if I should be enthusiastic or terrified, Ash," Cynthia, known to Ash as Shirona, remarked quietly. "The fact that such a psychic, whether human or pokémon could exist… is downright terrifying."

"I know." Ash's countenance shifted into a frown. "I've been around psychics all my life, but that one was… odd, unnatural… Alien."

"Maybe because he was human, or something?" Cynthia put forward, inwardly deciding to make a call to Lorelei, the Ice-Queen and one of the Kanto Elite Four. For one thing, she and Lorelei were cousins of sorts, and for another, Lorelei was apparently in the psychic-master Sabrina's good books. Besides, it wasn't like Champion Lance would be terribly accommodating should he hear that a Champion of a distant region is poking into matters beyond her concern.

 _Then again, it is beyond my concern. At least as a Champion._

"I don't know." Ash admitted. The two of them were standing by the deck, watching a pair of seagulls fly in the evening sky, and particularly, Poliwhirl, who was having the time of his life, swimming in the slightly turbulent waters of the sea. "He was using Telepathy, that's sure, but it could also be away to keep us from guessing. I mean, I haven't met any telepaths, but mom says that they love talking telepathically, if only to make the others uncomfortable."

Cynthia snorted at that. Guess she would have to ask Lorelei if Sabrina was like that. From what she had heard, there was a psychic-master known as Will in the Johto Elite Four, who had a nasty habit of teleporting all around, and then appearing behind people's backs, if only to scare them. Lorelei had once frozen the guy to keep him from teleporting, not that it had helped matters any better.

"So…" Ash hesitated a bit, "what exactly do you do all day? I mean, you said you're with the Sinnoh League, and you aren't participating in the tournament. So, what do you do all day?"

"Why, Mr. Ketchum?" Cynthia teased. "Are you demonstrating an interest in me?"

Ash flushed. "No—nothing like that." He ignored Cynthia's laughter and continued, "I mean, you are knowledgeable about pokémon, and so natural with them too. Bagon certainly agrees."

Cynthia's cheeks flushed a little red at that praise.

"So, I was wondering what you… you know, do with the League work and everything, all day. I'm sure you'd have loved to take part in the tournament."

"Well…." Cynthia drawled. "I've had my own share of tournaments during my life as a trainer."

Ash gave her a sceptical glance. "During your life as a trainer? How long have you been doing that?"

Cynthia laughed. "It's not right to ask a lady her age, you know."

Ash flushed pink. "I was not—never mind."

Cynthia chortled at his reactions. It was fun getting a rouse out of him, considering how honest his reactions were. "Four years."

Ash widened his eyes. "You've been a trainer for four years?"

 _Strange. She looks much younger._

Cynthia bobbed her head. "In Sinnoh, we acquire our trainer licenses at twelve."

"Twelve?" Ash cried out in indignation. "That's- that's cheating! Why do you get to start out at twelve when we get to sit for two more years?"

Cynthia chuckled. "You should take that question to your Champion, then."

"I will," Ash replied with conviction. "When I challenge the Champion and the Elite four, I'll take the matter to them."

Cynthia nodded. Considering how _instinctive_ Ash's battle instincts were, she couldn't imagine it would be too far off before he actually gained the calibre to even consider challenging the Elite Four.

"You didn't answer my question, you know." Ash continued. "What do you do for the League?"

"I…" Cynthia pursed her lips. There were no issues with revealing her identity, but it wouldn't be funny. "Tell you what? Let the tournament end. There'll be a grand party after that, in which all the different League envoys will be introduced in public. I'll introduce you to my friends, and you will know what my job is."

"Okay…" Ash intoned curiously.

"Where is your Bagon? I haven't seen him with you today."

Ash grinned. "He evolved into Shelgon. You'd have seen him had you not been stuck up in _'league stuff'_ all day."

"Why Mr. Ketchum, that's awfully forward of you. Might you be suggesting that we should spend more time together?"

"I—uh—me- you tricked me!"

Cynthia chortled at his indignant expression. "Sorry, couldn't help it." She quipped.

"I, uh—let's have a pokémon battle." Ash blurted out, himself wondering how he jumped from being outright flustered to issuing a pokémon challenge.

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "You sure know how to show a lady, a good time."

Ash didn't even try to give a reply.

"Hmmm… well, I suppose we could have a friendly battle. I'll try to go easy on you." Cynthia returned, pointing Ash to follow her towards the platform that was used for the tournament. Right now, the entire place was vacated as most of the travellers were inside.

"Oh come on, how difficult could it be?" Ash challenged.

Cynthia's lips curled into a beatific smile. A thing of beauty, really. "Go, Buizel."

A weasel-like pokémon stood in front of Ash. It had brownish-fur, a big ring-like protrusion all around its neck, and two fins on the backside.

Ash quickly pulled out his pokedex to check the pokémon out.

 **Buizel. The Sea Weasel Pokémon. Buizel swims by rotating its two tails like a screw. When it dives, its flotation sac collapses.**

"Buizel has been caught only recently, so he's the least trained." Cynthia informed.

Ash thought over the information Dexter had just provided. He knew just what pokémon he needed against Buizel. Plucking out a pokeball from his belt, he threw the ball out. "Go, Charmander."

The fire-lizard growled, as he materialized in front of Ash.

"All right, Charmander, we have to win this fight against Buizel. Can you do that for me?"

Charmander asserted his agreement, his tail flame burning a little brighter, as he stared at the sea weasel pokémon.

"A Charmander." Cynthia tilted her head in curiosity. "Don't you think that fire-types are weaker against water-types? I should inform you that Buizel is no slouch."

"Charmander has his shots, right Charmander?" Ash returned.

Charmander growled in agreement.

Cynthia's lips twisted. "Very well, Buizel, start with water gun."

"Dodge!"

Charmander simply dodged towards the right with extreme precision, avoiding the water-gun attack.

"Head up straight, and use metal claw."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "Use Aqua Jet, Buizel."

The two elemental pokémon moved towards each other, with Buizel speeding towards the fire-lizard with enormous speed.

"Use dragon pulse on the ground." Ash commanded.

"What?" Cynthia looked in surprise. Charmander weren't expected to learn any kind of draconic attacks, except the rare ones that managed to learn dragon-dance. She would know, after all, Charizard was one of her top battlers.

However, the fire-lizard, with mind-numbing efficiency, ejected a powerful pulse of draconic energy out to the ground, creating an explosion, something that managed to stop Buizel midway, as the weasel pokémon looked at the lizard in surprise.

"Dragon breath, quick!"

"Water pulse!" Cynthia exploded, as Buizel pulled in a water pulse attack in the last second, which crashed against Charmander's dragon breath midway, creating an explosion that sent both pokémon flying over to either side.

"That is enough." Cynthia replied in a somewhat… colder tone. "Buizel, return."

Buizel looked surprised at the sudden change of orders, since he was perfectly able to continue the battle. He managed to glance a look at the somewhat tired Charmander before getting sucked in.

"What—what happened?" Ash asked warily.

"You tell me." Cynthia replied, a dangerous tone to her voice. "Only the rarest of the rare Charmander manage to begin learning that move. And your Charmander managed to use dragon breath and dragon pulse within a span of _seconds._ That is _not_ normal."

"Who says that?" Ash retorted, not liking how Shirona was calling his Charmander _unnatural._ "My charmander is special, and I like him how he is. End of discussion."

Cynthia opened her mouth, and closed it. "Ash, you might not want to accept it, but something is inherently strange with your Charmander." She didn't add that Charmander was generating draconic energies in patterns _very, very similar_ to how her Gible, now Garchomp did, while using draconic attacks.

"Maybe, but I like him how he is." Ash retorted. "Return, Charmander."

The fire-lizard sent a single glare at Cynthia as he was sucked into the pokeball. Returning the pokeball back to his belt, Ash gave her a half-glare. "What's the bloody big deal if my Charmander can use Dragon breath?"

"The big deal is because I think your Charmander's genetics aren't normal." Cynthia retorted back. "I'm not sure if you are wilfully denying or are just plain ignorant, but being in possession of illegally-bred pokémon isn't a good thing if you want to succeed as a trainer."

"My- I didn't do anything wrong." Ash defended. "I found him deserted, dying and in the wild, and I took care of him. He is now a part of my team, genetics be damned."

Cynthia almost retorted back, before she controlled herself. "Very well, but I reserve the right to talk about it later."

"You can talk about it as much as you like, as long as you do not try to take him away from me." Ash replied, anger distinct in his eyes. "He's a priceless asset I'm not giving up."

"Ash," Cynthia tried, "it's only for the-"

"I don't care." Ash retorted back, before Cynthia could complete her statement. "It's quite late, and I should return to my room." Without waiting for a reply, he turned around and stomped his way off to his room, leaving a perplexed Cynthia behind.

* * *

 **The next morning.**

"Welcome to the second match of today's Top-16 battlers. This time, the participants are Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and Silver from Viridian City, both of which are in Kanto." The commentator exclaimed. "Ash, who has demonstrated a wide variety of pokémon under his command, is going to battle against Silver, who has been winning every single battle with his Fire team."

 _That's right._ Ash thought. Unlike what he had expected, the son of the Viridian Gym leader didn't specialize in ground-types, like Giovanni was rumoured to be. Instead, he seemed obsessed with fire-type pokémon, and had been using _fire-types_ ever since the tournament had begun.

 _A Ninetales, a Slugma and a Flareon, and he has used only those three to win each and every single battle prior to this. This one, will possibly be my toughest match so far._

The platform in front of them suddenly let out another hiss, as it started to sink down, until it was at least a couple of feet deep in, when halves of a new platform slid in from either side.

"The battleground for this match has been chosen to be Rock-type." The commentator stated.

"This will be a three-on-three battle. Rotation is allowed." The referee stated, "Blue Trainer, choose your pokémon."

Ash, the Red trainer for the battle, stood in wait as Silver, the brown-haired individual who looked around sixteen in age, dressed in black apparel that gave off a rebellious streak. His hair was unruly, and his eyes burned with a certain something, as he stood his ground, before calmly pulling a pokeball out of his pocket.

"Ninetales, go battle." Came the silent, emotionless demand.

The red light that inundated the stadium slowly ceased, leaving behind a dazzlingly beautiful, brilliant white fox with long, fluffy tails, all nine of them, folded around her to give the appearance of a throne. Her red eyes, along with the luxurious white fur, formed an avid juxtaposition between ethereal beauty and lethality, something even Ash couldn't help but admire.

 _That's settled. I need to get myself a Ninetales one of these days._ Ash thought inwardly, as he selected his own pokémon. He would need a powerful water-type against Ninetales, who were known to be quite powerful in their attacks.

"Shelgon, I choose you." Ash made his choice, as Shelgon appeared in front of the silvery-white fire creature.

"And Ash has chosen Shelgon against Ninetales. Will Ash's Shelgon be able to prevail against Silver and his Ninetales?" The commentary ran in the background, as Ash muted it out, focussing on the match. It would not do to make the foolish mistakes he had made the previous day.

"Ninetales, use fire blast!"

"Shelgon, use Dragon pulse!"

The two powerful attacks slammed into each other midway, as the powerful fire blast from Ninetales met Shelgon's sphere of draconic energy, clashing into a giant explosion.

"Ninetales, use fire spin." Silver shot back.

"Stay where you are, Shelgon, and use protect." Ash commanded. It was a new move, one that Shelgon automatically learnt on evolving from Bagon-stage.

"Ninetales, use Flare blitz!"

Ninetales howled, as it gathered a powerful conflagration before thrusting it out towards Shelgon, who simply stood there, waiting for orders, its rock-hard shell completely unaffected by the fire-spin attack.

"Counter with dragon pulse."

Another time, two powerful blasts collided with each other, creating an explosion, but nevertheless, leaving the situation to a stalemate.

"This is going nowhere." Silver snarled. "Ninetales, return..." He plucked out another pokeball and threw it into the field. "Go, Typhlosion!"

"And Silver has replaced his Ninetales with Typhlosion. Will Ash continue with Shelgon, or will Silver's plan work out differently?" The commentary went on. The rat-like pokémon that had appeared on the field was as tall as Ash himself if not taller, and had a burning flame on his back.

"Shelgon, get ready." Ash warned.

"Typhlosion, use quick attack followed by flame wheel."

"Shelgon, use Zen head-butt on Typhlosion!"

"Dodge and attack." Silver commanded, as Typhlosion dodged mid-attack, before landing the flame-wheel onto Shelgon's back, slamming the pokémon to the ground.

"Now use brick break on Shelgon!"

Typhlosion let out a war cry as it jumped into the air, its fists glowing as it slammed down towards Shelgon, who was on the ground.

"Use dragon breath on the floor." Ash commanded, and right that instant, Shelgon belched out powerful dragon-breath onto the floor, the mere force of which shot itself upwards, colliding head-on with Typhlosion, who yelped as it got pummelled with Shelgon's powerful shell.

"Typhlosion!" Silver snarled. "Get back up, and use inferno!"

"Dragon pulse!"

"Double team with brick break!" Silver commanded, and almost instantly, several illusory copies of Typhlosion were all around the platform, coming towards Shelgon who went on firing dragon pulses madly at every direction.

"Full power!" Silver snarled.

"Shelgon!" Ash screamed, as he watched Typhlosion suddenly appear behind Shelgon and slam a powerful brick break onto the baby dragon, sending it to oblivion.

"And Shelgon is unable to battle. Typhlosion wins."

Typhlosion let out a roar of triumph.

His face an expression of absolute distress, Ash recalled his starter, as he threw out his next pokémon. "Go, Metang!"

"And Ash has chosen Metang as his next pokémon. Will Metang be able to defeat Typhlosion?" The commentator went on. "Silver's Ninetales is still in dormancy, which means he still has all three pokémon left to use against Ash's two."

Ash grit his teeth. This match was tougher than he had expected it to be. Typhlosion had a good combination of power _and_ speed, something Shelgon lacked because of his anatomy. Metang however….

"Metang, use agility."

Instantly, Metang began to zoom all around the battlefield at high speeds, his psychic powers propelling him with very high momentum all around.

"Prepare for thunder punch."

Metang's appendages glowed as electricity sparked on them, as the thunder punch was prepared.

"Typhlosion, use smoke screen," Silver commanded, "and then use fury swipes."

Metang was just about to hit Typhlosion when the volcano pokémon caused the entire battlefield to be inundated in black smoke, enough to cause Metang to stop.

"Use harden, quickly!" Ash warned, but before Metang could react, Typhlosion was upon him, using fury swipes.

"Flame Wheel on Metang, now, and follow with double-edge."

The destructive technique hit Metang directly on the face, before the latter move sent him slamming into one of the rocks, causing further damage.

 _Shit!_ Ash cursed. "Metang, can you continue?"

Metang made a mechanical voice of agreement.

"Use psychic."

Typhlosion, use rock tomb!"

The blast of psychic energy splattered onto the rocks which had risen up from the battleground.

"Now jump and use flare blitz."

"Metang, thunder punch."

"Endure it and use lava plume on Metang, face-first." Silver commanded.

Just as the trainer from Viridian expected, Typhlosion was able to bear through the power of Metang's thunder punch, all the while using flare blitz on Metang. The effect of the flames on the iron claw pokémon was visible. That was when Typhlosion, despite his own injuries, used Lava Plume, one of his most powerful attacks on the psychic/steel-type, sending him all the way to the barriers of the battlefield, after which, Metang simply slid down to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Get on with it, boy. Your Metang is weak," Silver sneered. "Take him back and send something that could actually stand against Typhlosion for a change."

Ash grit his teeth. "Metang, can you continue?"

Strangely enough, Metang didn't reply back. Instead, the dark eyes of the iron claw pokémon were affixed to the volcano pokémon, who was sneering back at him from his vantage point. The expression on the fire-type's face gave away its thoughts for Metang.

 _Weak._

"Metang-?" Ash called out. "I trust you buddy, but can you continue?"

Metang didn't reply once again. Even its own trainer had doubts about its ability to defeat this fire-type. It would not stand this. It had chosen to step out of its colony so that it could become the strongest of its kin, and no one would stop it.

Certainly not this overgrown rat.

Metang closed its eyes, as psychic energy hummed inside him. Unlike other types, psychics were much more in tune with their own physiological changes and energy flow, which by extension, meant that they were more attuned to the changes occurring in their body, and how close they were towards evolution. The constant use of psychic powers over the last few weeks had strengthened its hold over its abilities, and the new techniques he had unlocked thanks to TM's had let the channels open.

It had been coming in for a while now, but this was the first time, it knew that it was time. It was time to stop being itself. It was time to become _'him'._

Blinding, white light flooded out of Metang's body, as it condensed into liquid light, before expanding, both in girth, size and power. Two new appendages formed on the posterior end, as its height extended beyond five feet, easily dwarfing Ash as an enormous X formed in the front of its eyes.

"Meta—gross!" came out the defiant roar, as Metang, now Metagross levitated upwards in the air, his four legs folded and radiating psychic energy, stared back at Typhlosion.

"Unbelievable! Metang has evolved into a Metagross. What will this evolution mean against Typhlosion?" The commentator blared.

 _Metagross._ Ash breathed, as a feeling of Deja-vu gripped him. It was almost like looking at Derrick's Metagross, with all its power, and wisdom radiating out of the great behemoth. Of course, Metagross wasn't as big as Derrick's was, but then again, that Metagross was over fifty years old.

 _ **Power is a state of mind, human.**_ The words returned to him, just as Metagross had said, there had been more to Metang than what Ash had expected. Metang might have been beaten, but he was reverted back, and stood his ground, confident on the power that lurked deep within him.

Ash's face twisted into a maniacal grin "Go, get him. Metagross."

Metagross let out a deep humming noise, which reverberated all around.

Silver snarled. "Typhlosion, use flamethrower."

The volcano pokémon's back erupted vigorously in a swirl of powerful flames as it sent a full-powered blast of scorching flames towards Metagross.

"Stop it." Ash commanded.

Metagross's eyes glowed blue, as the incoming barrage stopped midway, congregating into a single ball of flames, not unlike how the _psychic_ back at Commerce City had done. As Metang he didn't have the power to replicate that feat, but as Metagross, using such a technique on the flamethrower was child's play.

In less than a minute, an enormous ball of flames had formed in front of Metagross, held in place by its sheer psychic prowess.

"Continue on the flamethrower, Typhlosion." Silver stressed, hoping that the increment of fire-type energy would soon become too much to contain by the steel-type.

But Metagross wasn't just a mere steel-type. He was a psychic too, and a pseudo-legendary at that. While it was true that he had just evolved, and was nowhere where the most developed ones of his species could reach, the gift of power that evolution brought with it, was more than enough for him to contain the flames with just his psychic potential.

"Let's give Typhlosion as gift of his own medicine, shall we?" Ash cheered, as Metagross, still humming, used his psychic powers to propel the ball of flames back towards Typhlosion, who was, for the record, still trying to push back using his own flamethrower attack.

"Typhlosion, get out of there!" Silver yelled in shock, but it was too late. The ever-growing ball of flames collided with Typhlosion head-on, its speed facilitated by Metagross's own psychic powers, causing an explosion that sent Typhlosion flying, its fur charred from the effects.

"Typhlosion, get up and use flare blitz!" Silver yelled.

It didn't matter. The moment the smoke cleared away, as Typhlosion slowly began to get himself up, the first thing he saw was blinding white hammer-like thing, which he realized was Metagross's appendage, with three shining claws at the front, as they came slamming down on Typhlosion's face, shattering his jaw as he fell towards onto the ground with a yelp, only for another strike at his abdomen, literally pushing him up into the air, followed by a third, supremely powerful strike that sent him flying, unconscious.

 _Meteor Mash._ Ash thought inwardly with reverence.

"And Typhlosion is unable to battle. Metagross is the winner."

Metagross folded his appendages back into position, drifting in the air slightly, as it turned, facing Ash as he floated towards his trainer.

 _Metagross._ Ash muttered inside his mind.

 _ **I am not weak, trainer Ash.**_

Ash blinked. The voice he had heard in his mind was deep, and brimming with power. Was that- _was that you, Metagross?_

A deep humming sound reverberated through his mind, as if in answer.

 _Whoa, this is awesome. Now you can talk to me using telepathy?_

 _ **I am one who comprehends the meaning of the universe. Voicing our thoughts is a rather elementary concept to one such as myself.**_

Ash raised an eyebrow. Of course, how could he forget? Psychics were like that. It was like being at home with his mom's Kadabra and Gardevoir all over again.

Ash's face shifted into a grin. "Then, let's finish this battle and win the match."

Metagross hummed again.

* * *

Back in the stands, Cynthia observed the entire match, her mind in deep thought. Despite the initial stalemate between Shelgon and Ninetales, the match between Shelgon and Typhlosion had literally shifted the balance between victory and defeat, something that had only deepened with Typhlosion's near victory over Metang.

Then the unbelievable had happened. Metang had evolved into a Metagross.

A pseudo-legendary pokémon.

Despite her rather indecisive nature, Cynthia Shirona had two major pursuits, one was to push her pokémon to the limit, all the while caring for them better than she cared for herself, and the second, to study the mysteries surrounding the legendaries and the pseudo-legendaries. Her four-year experience with Gible, now Garchomp had given her priceless experience about a lot of things, one of which, was knowledge about the sheer might and existence of those the world knew as the pseudo-legendaries.

There was much more about pokémon training than what people would have liked to believe, especially when it came to the training of the pseudo-legendaries. Apparently, for a pseudo-legendary to be caught by a trainer was never a mercurial event, and always, _always,_ predetermined by fate. In fact, the pseudo-legendaries themselves, felt certain premonitions that _coerced_ them to join the trainer in his journey. Of course, the baby-stage or even the second-stage pokémon might not have enough… extrasensory perception to grasp the meaning of these premonitions, but surely enough, upon evolving to their final stage, those premonitions began to make sense.

Another shocking piece of revelation she had found from her Garchomp, was that unlike m0st other pokémon, pseudo-legendaries were literally… _reborn_ when they evolved into their final stages. In simple terms, when a Gabite evolved into a Garchomp, said Garchomp could be called a _baby,_ for all intents and purposes, irrespective of the power it might wield. It took years of harsh training and development for a fully-evolved pseudo-legendary to reach the zenith of its power, a level where it would be capable enough to stand a chance against the merciless destructive power of the mythical Legendaries.

 _A fully-evolved Metagross, and so soon, not to count the Shelgon, and that odd Charmander. Either he has incredible luck (or bad luck), or there is more to him that what meets the eye._ Cynthia decided.

Apparently, a second-stage pseudo-legendary had the ability to stall its evolutionary process until it _decided_ that it had gained enough skill and ability to move on to the final metamorphosis. So why would a Metang, one whom _Ash described_ as _powerful but lacking in skill,_ when he had captured it, be ready to summon its evolution midway in a battle? Surely a single battle wouldn't be of that importance, considering this was _evolution_ on the bet. So what was it about Ash Ketchum that made Metang deem it necessary to evolve so quickly, as if the mere thought of him losing was unbearable to itself?

 _You keep getting more and more interesting, Ash Ketchum._

She glanced back at Silver, who had his next pokémon ready at hand. This was going to be a rather interesting battle, she decided.

 _Now only if I had an ice cream._

* * *

Back on the battleground, Silver stood, holding Typhlosion's pokeball in hand, staring at the pseudo-legendary in front of him. _This,_ he told himself, this was what his father had dedicated his entire life, trying to control and subdue, the first step towards supreme control over the mythical legendaries. For better or worse, not a _single_ pseudo-legendary species had wilfully joined Giovanni as a trainer, before which he had thrown all of his honour away and began to look into alternatives to lay claim and authority over these juggernauts.

 _And this puny kid has what even Father couldn't._

His fingers caressed his next pokeball, which was, in all likelihood, the most powerful of all his pokémon at the moment. A pokémon that was, in a manner of speaking, fire-incarnate. "Destroy that Metagross," he yelled, throwing the pokeball out into the battlefield, "go… Magmar!"

The pokémon that stood on the battlefield was unlike any that Ash had ever seen. At first sight, it seemed like a congregation of lava, shaped into a pokémon, what with the way its body was patterned with flames all over, along with the flares on its head and tail. Its mouth was extended outward to give a beak-like appearance, though its outer body structure didn't seem to give an indication of Magmar being a close-combat type.

"Magmar, huh?" Ash whispered.

 _ **The beast of the volcano is strong, but not undefeatable.**_

 _I wasn't doubting your power._

 _ **Merely an elementary clarification.**_

 _Right._ Ash rolled his eyes, before an interesting thought hit him. _Say Metagross, would you be able to follow directions should I direct you mentally?_

 _ **Our minds are faster than human circuitry. Following a single external command doesn't even require consideration.**_

 _Right._ Ash drawled. Apparently, with their incredible brain power, it was sort of a _culture thing_ among psychic-types to speak the human tongue with an overuse of vocabulary.

 _ **While it is practically advantageous, doing so would commit a crime against the human concept of fairness and honour.**_

 _Isn't there a pokémon concept of honour as well?_

 _ **I cannot speak for the avian or the dragon, but we live by the Hive. To defend, to feed, to grow- no other concepts matter to all that is Metagross.**_

 _Right._ Ash thought, slightly flustered. _Well, we need those ultraballs and the prize money to buy more TM's and food, so it should ally with your concept._

 _ **Humans have an affinity of twisting perspectives to fit their own purposes.**_

 _Are you disagreeing?_

 _ **Just making a point. I have no issues with your plan of action.**_

 _Ash grinned._ "Very well, Metagross, do your thing." He muttered aloud. _Psy wave._ He thought inwardly.

Metagross let out a deep humming voice, as he threw out successive psywave towards Magmar.

"Use barrier, Magmar¸and be ready with Detect." Silver muttered, as the spitfire pokémon threw out a psychic barrier, which shattered instantly as the psywave hit it, although it did neutralize the attack as well.

 _We need to work on getting you some nice long-ranged attacks._ Ash thought. _Now use agility and finish with Hammer Arm._

 _ **As you wish.**_

Metagross let out another deepening hum as he literally vanished from his position, appearing all around Magmar, who seemed _almost uncaring_ about the entire situation. The moment Metagross came closer, Magmar's mouth seemed to twist as flames surrounded its body.

"Teleport." Silver commanded, as Magmar instantly teleported from his position, appearing high up in the sky, much to the audience's screams.

"Use Lava plume on the ground." Silver ordered, as Magmar belched flames from his position, onto the ground below, as the entire region simmered with the rising temperature, making it uncomfortable for Metagross. Meanwhile, Magmar came down to the ground, his mouth twisted into a sardonic grin, as he found himself in an environment more ideal to his own niche.

Ash muttered a soft expletive under his breath. By literally melting the entire stadium, Magmar was making it more uncomfortable for Metagross who was a steel-type. Even if Metagross should use his psychic powers to encase himself within, it would stop him from making any kind of quick attacks. Even if Metagross would sacrifice his shield to get closer, there was a good chance that Magmar would just teleport away.

 _Great. Another stalemate._

 _ **I believe the better term for this is Check mate.**_

 _Whose bloody side on you on?_

The psychic waves that arrived this time seemed to have a slight tinge of humour associated with it. Ash almost laughed. This was the first time he had seen Metang, now Metagross demonstrate any kind of emotions—positive or negative. Maybe it was an evolution thing.

 _ **It is almost incomprehensible to all that is Metagross why human kind put so much importance on the outer expression of emotions.**_

 _Okay, old man._

 _ **I believe the semi-mindless beast would be a better fighter at this stage.**_

 _I dare you to say that to his face._

Metagross just hummed in return.

Ash lifted his pokeball in his hand, and replied, "Metagross, return." The iron leg pokémon condensed into red light before getting sucked into the pokeball. He took out another pokeball out and threw it into the field. "Go, Rhydon!"

"And Ash Ketchum decides to change pokémon and reveal his last pokémon, Rhydon."

Rhydon let out a grunt, staring at the spitfire pokémon, it's incredibly strong hide not even allowing him to consider the fact that he was in a battlefield filled with half-melted rocks.

Silver made no reaction, only choosing to stare blankly at Ash and Rhydon.

"All right, Rhydon. Use fury attack."

 _There is no point in teleporting against this one. Fire attacks wouldn't work._ Silver thought. "Use fire punch."

"Now use rock tomb!" Ash pressed, as Rhydon let out a roar, stomping onto the ground, as several rock fragments rose up towards Magmar, interrupting his attack.

"Now rock smash!"

Rhydon sent another set of seismic waves, this time slashing his tail towards the rock fragments, sending them flying towards Magmar.

"Teleport and get behind Rhydon." Silver roared.

Ash smirked. "Earthquake!"

While the Magmar species did in fact, know the move Teleport, it could only do so in short spurts, over extremely short distances, courtesy to the trace amounts of psychic abilities inherited by the species. However, as with most non-psychic pokémon, teleport was a power-consuming move, one that took a significant toll on Magmar's own reserves.

Thus, it was completely natural that when Rhydon stomped his foot down, the Earthquake succeeded in weakening Magmar to devastating effect.

"Now Rock smash, quickly!"

This time, the rock fragments went slamming into Magmar, before the spitfire pokémon could attack back, the effects of the Earthquake still affecting him greatly.

"Bulldoze." Ash commanded, as Rhydon bent his body, before taking on a run, slamming his powerful horn into Magmar, as he literally lifted the spitfire pokémon up.

"Use Fire Blitz!" Silver yelled in horror.

"Horn Drill, full power!" Ash screamed, as Rhydon slammed the drilling horn into Magmar's abdomen, the sheer force of that attack tearing through Magmar's tough hide, the pokémon in too much pain to even try making another attack.

"Magmar, return." Silver called out, returning his pokémon in a flash of red light. "I forfeit Magmar from battling again."

"Are you sure?" The referee asked.

"I am." Silver threw a glare at Ash. "Your pokémon could've seriously injured mine."

"This is a battle." That was all Ash had to say.

Silver sneered at him, before choosing his only pokémon, one that he had used earlier. "Go, Ninetales."

With a howl, Ninetales sat on the rocky field, her tails folded gracefully like always.

"Rhydon, return." Ash commanded, much to everyone's surprise. "Rhydon is an extreme, needed to normalize your Magmar's heat." He looked at Silver, as if clarifying his actions. "Go, Metagross."

And just like that, the entire battle's conclusion was made.

"Ninetales, use Fire spin."

 _Agility. Get behind Ninetales._

The fox spewed out powerful flames which formed a tornado as it drifted towards Metagross, or rather, where Metagross had been. In an instant, Metagross was behind Ninetales.

 _Grip with Psychic and pin it down._

An enormous force of pure psychic energy slammed down upon the unsuspecting Ninetales, as she was pinned down onto the ground, despite her attempts to overpower Metagross by flame bursts.

 _Meteor Mash._

* * *

 **Several hours later.**

"Your method of battling is getting rather rougher and unpredictable day by day, Ash," Harrison expressed, "I'm not sure if I should be happy about it or not."

Ash turned his neck towards his friend, raising an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Nothing really. I guess everyone has their own method of battle." Harrison replied, more to himself than to others. "You are making harder decisions, even taking unexpected advantages in a way few do."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand."

"Psychic link." That was all Harrison had to say.

 _Oh. That._

It was a known fact that certain psychic pokémon, usually of the Abra or the Drowzee line, upon maturation, were able to communicate with humans with ease. However, psy pokémon were also able to, depending upon the bond they had with their trainer, be able to telepathically communicate with _just_ their trainer, instead of everyone else. The development of such a telepathic link between a trainer and his psy pokémon was referred to as a psychic link, and was a rather rare skill to have.

"Your eyes, they were glowing, during the battle, blue like Metang did when using his psychic attacks." Harrison pointed out.

"I didn't know that you knew about psychic links and all that." Ash pointed out shrewdly.

"Picked it up from my mentor."

"Your mentor?"

"Professor Birch."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Harrison rubbed the back of his head. "That reminds me, I should call on him some time. Haven't had a long-distance call in a while."

Ash nodded. He had had a decent conversation with Professor Oak last night, and even had some words with his mother about the trip, discussing with her about the competition and how he made into the Top- 16, with his next battle being against Silver, the son of the Viridian Gym leader Giovanni. Delia Ketchum had been somewhat… perturbed at the mention of the Gym leader, something Ash noticed but kept on hold for private discussion for another day.

That reminded him…

"Yeah, about that. I too need to make a call to Cerulean city."

"Ah, yes. The girl you mentioned. What was her name again?"

"Misty." Ash answered, his face flushed. "No, I wasn't talking about her. There's someone else I want to call."

"You have two maidens waiting for you in Cerulean?" Harrison asked in wonder, rubbing off imaginary tears from his cheek. "Kids these days grow up so fast."

Ash kicked Harrison in his shins, making the other boy yelp in pain, glaring at him.

"That's what you get for teasing. I need to call a certain researcher friend of mine, and he lives in Cerulean."

"Uh-huh, and why?"

"It is…" Ash frowned, "I'll tell you about it, later on sometime, I guess."

Harrison raised his hands up in a gesture. "Completely understandable. "Are you going now?"

Ash shrugged. "Might as well."

"Cool. I guess, I'' just scour the deck and find a PC console. I guess they must have gotten some pieces latched up somewhere."

* * *

Back in his room, Ash made sure that the doors and windows were all closed, before he switched on the Xtransceiver to make a call to Bill Montgomery. He held on for a minute of indecisiveness over whether he should just call up the famous researcher out of nowhere, but then again, the researcher did tell him to stay in contact.

 _Well, I won't find out without trying, would I?_

Activating the call function, he selected Bill's contact number, and after three rings, a flash of light appeared on the screen as Bill's- wait-

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Ash screamed, getting up from the bed, as he yelled into the Xtransceiver.

On the opposite end of the screen, stood a large, black, snail-like pokémon with tiny white pincers, six in number, while the rest of the body was enveloped in pitch darkness. 'Hello Ash. Didn't expect you to call back so soon."

"Bill? Is that you?" Ash asked, surprised. "What are you doing inside that ugly thing?"

"Yeah, that's my brand new Kabuto-based exoskeleton suit, you are referring to as the _ugly thing."_

"Doesn't make it any less ugly." Ash pointed out.

The exoskeleton or whatever, seemed to shake its head in frustration, before the abdominal portion hissed and cracked open, allowing the famous researcher to get out of it, still in his impeccable white robes.

"What the hell were you doing in that thing?" Ash accused.

"It is a way of trying to understand the pokémon way of life, especially for-never mind, what did you call me for?"

"I—uh, just wanted to know how things were going with Charmander's case."

"Ah, yes, of course. Has he evolved yet?"

"No." Ash narrowed his eyes. "Charmander's too… frail at this moment. He's nowhere strong enough to evolve."

"He might surprise you."

Ash didn't say anything to counter that statement. Earlier in the morning, he had encountered Metang's resolve and didn't want to make an0ther bet which he was sure he would lose.

"Metang evolved though," Ash replied, his voice upbeat. "Evolved into Metagross, before kicking the crap out of a Typhlosion."

Bill chortled. "Amazing. Metagross are in general, pretty powerful pokémon, even when untrained. That specimen of yours is going to be a heavy-hitter when he's more… mature and has unlocked more of his abilities."

"I'm sure of that." Ash stated, before changing the point. "You were speaking about Charmander?"

"Ah yes," Bill replied, realizing that he had digressed from the point. "His genetics are rather surprising, but I bet you already know that. I can assure you that you are in for a surprise when he evolves into a Charmeleon."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"And spoil the excitement? No way."

Ash scowled.

"Are you making good progress with the little gift I gave you?"

Ash's lips twisted into a large grin. "Yep. And I also caught more pokémon. I got Crawdaunt, and a Magneton, though he was being rather… unruly, so I traded him for a Lairon."

"Traded, huh?" Bill asked, before letting out a sigh. "I guess, that's to be expected sooner or later."

"What do you mean?" Ash inquired, confused with Bill's reaction.

"Nothing really. It's just that your reaction upon my suggestion of getting yourself a proper Charmander instead of a… hybrid one… the way you were being passionate about it. I just didn't expect you of all people to begin trading your pokémon."

Ash's countenance darkened. "I'm not trading away my pokémon. It's just… I caught Magneton under extraneous circumstances. Rhyhorn almost got killed by him, but evolved to Rhydon just in time. After knocking that thing off, Rhydon wanted me to capture it, so I did."

"Still having troubles getting over your fear over electric-types, huh?"

"I'm _not_ scared of electric-types." Ash retorted darkly.

Bill raised his hands in surrender. "Go on."

Ash scowled, but decided to continue. "Magneton… was different. I caught this Crawdaunt, and he too, was rebellious but I and my team defeated him in battle, and he complied with my wishes after that. He's a solid member on my team now. Magneton… he knew he had been defeated but wasn't following any of my commands, as if I wasn't fit to train him in the first place."

"And?"

"Well, there's this trainer Morrison I met, and well… he asked if I'd want to trade away Magneton for his Lairon." Ash chuckled. "Lairon is pretty headstrong, but I got my way through him."

Bill chuckled. "Good for you, in that case."

"Yeah well," Ash frowned, "I just don't want you to think that I've changed over my beliefs regarding pokémon."

 _Despite how powerful Paul seems to have gotten by following contradictory beliefs._

"I understand." Bill nodded his head. "What else? Where are you right now?"

Ash grinned, allowing Bill to have a glance at the room all around. "Let me guess, the St. Anne?"

"Right in one." Ash jeered.

"You lucky sod." Bill muttered. "So, I take it you are participating in the tournament?"

"Yep, in the Top-8 after my last battle."

Bill almost choked. "Top-8? That's… that's rather good, Ash for someone as new as you are."

"What can I say? I'm awfully talented." Ash replied in a singsong.

"And your pokémon?"

"Bagon's evolved, just last day. He's a Shelgon now, bigger in size and somewhat sluggish, though that doesn't stop him from tearing a hole in my pocket," Ash went on sardonically, much to Bill's amusement, "—and Metang is now a Metagross," he replied with excitement. "Pidgeotto's coming around. I guess she'll evolve pretty soon. Poliwhirl's… somewhere in the sea, I guess." He paused. "I hardly see him these days apart from the battles."

Bill chortled at that.

"Rhyhorn's evolved, as I said, into Rhydon, and he's currently my most powerful. Charmander and Crawdaunt are coming along, and Lairon… he's kind of new and will need time before I shape him up nicely."

"That's quite a bunch of hard-hitters you've got there. That team's gonna be powerful when they are trained and matured, I tell you."

Ash opened his mouth, but then closed it, as a frown formed on his lips.

"What's the matter?"

"Today's battle," Ash spoke up, his voice a little lower than usual, "I was facing a trainer of fire-type pokémon, and we landed up in stale mates multiple times, and I was lucky that Metang evolved mid-battle, else I'd have certainly lost."

"I… see."

"I need a strong pokémon that can be used against fire-types with ease, and preferably for long-ranged attacks." Ash frowned, as he voiced his thoughts aloud.

"Well, that's quite simple."

Ash raised another eyebrow.

"You need to go fishing."

 _Huh?_

Bill chortled at Ash's dumbfounded expression. "You are on a ship, in the sea. You have a water-type swimming all around. You have a psychic-type that can pull things at will. Get yourself a Magicarp."

"You mean-"

"A Gyarados. Yes."

Ash's eyes turned to saucers. "But aren't Gyarados like… too destructive and hard to manage?"

"And when has something that stopped you?" Bill challenged.

Ash opened his mouth, but found no words.

 _A Gyarados?_

"Yes, water-types are perfect against fire-types and plus, Gyarados are draconic by nature. Wasn't it you who mentioned a desire of having an army of dragons at command?"

"A team of dragons."

"Semantics." Bill countered.

Ash looked thoughtful. "But… I've heard that it takes Magicarp an extremely long time to evolve into one."

Bill's lips twisted into a grin. "Depends, if you are friend with the famous Bill Montgomery or not."

"What do you mean?"

"First get yourself a magicarp, then we'll discuss. Right now, tell me more… what's happening on that ship?"

'That is pretty much all. I have made a friend in Vermillion known as Harrison, and he's on the ship with me. I also made an acquaintance with someone from Sinnoh, though she's not a trainer."

"Ah."

Ash frowned for a moment, before the rather odd behaviour he had seen in Shirona the previous evening came to mind. Hey Bill."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know any… Shirona from the Sinnoh League? She's part of the League Envoy and is pretty knowledgeable about pokémon."

Bill began to answer, but then paused, considering his words. " _Shirona_ you say…" His eyes seemed to be dancing with mirth.

"Yeah?" Ash stressed, completely oblivious.

"And she's friends with you?"

"Well, kind of. We've met a couple of times."

 _Interesting. So the Sinnoh Champion is demonstrating interest in a fairly newbie trainer? I wonder why…_ Bill thought to himself. "No," he finally replied, "nothing comes to mind."

"Hmm…" Ash frowned, "she was quickly able to catch up that something was… odd about Charmander. She also told me that she'll introduce me to her friends after the tournament is over."

 _That will be one hell of an introduction._ Bill chuckled inwardly. "Guess you'll have to wait and find out."

Ash shrugged.

"Well, it's been good talking to you. Now I'll get back to my lab, and you concentrate on winning the tournament and catching the… you-know-what. When you are done with both, give me a call."

"Uh… sure." Ash replied, as the screen went off without any overture.

 _A Magicarp… it is._

* * *

 **An hour later.**

"I still do not understand how a long-range phone call became a motivation to go Magicarp-fishing." Harrison rubbed his head, feeling like he would soon have a headache if Ash's words didn't begin to make sense.

"A Gyarados, Harrison." Ash explained.

"So…. You want to catch a Magicarp, and evolve it into Gyarados, hoping that it wouldn't… oh, I don't know, eat you up for its very first party meal after evolution?"

Ash scowled. "My Gyarados isn't going to do that."

"Yeah?" Harrison put his hands at his waist, in typical interrogation fashion. "And why so? Because you are the great Ash Ketchum?"

"Because I'll defeat it in battle and capture it back into my pokeball. It is draconic, and all dragons respect power."

Harrison raised an eyebrow. The kid, had a point. "And you suppose your Metagross will be able to defeat him?"

Ash shrugged. "I wouldn't know without trying."

Harrison face-palmed. "Ash! You do know right _how_ many people lose their lives to Gyarados every single year? Damn it, Ash. There is a reason why Magicarp population is being limited to specific locations all over the world, so that the safety of the seas can be maintained."

"Yeah, and how good is that turning out?" Ash retorted.

Harrison opened his mouth, but closed it. Ash had a point. Fortunately or not, Magicarp were able to survive in almost any water body, no matter how diluted. For a pokémon so hopelessly underpowered, it sure had a strong lifeline, and survival ability.

"There's no way can I convince you otherwise, is there?"

"Well, you can always join me in fishing." Ash offered.

 _Bugger._ Harrison thought, as he realized how _attractive_ the offer seemed. "And how _exactly_ are you going to do that?"

Ash smirked. It was show time. "Like…. This." He looked down from the deck towards the sea, inwardly glad that Poliwhirl was still around, swimming in the sea to his heart's content.

"Hey Poliwhirl, think you can do a favour for me?"

Poliwhirl looked surprised, but voiced his agreement.

"Can you get me a Magicarp?"

Harrison face-palmed.

* * *

"And that's…." Ash proclaimed, "-how you catch yourself a Magicarp."

Harrison looked fairly irritated. "I'll say it again. You didn't catch it. Poliwhirl just threw one up to the deck, right into your hands, where it hit the pokeball in _your hand,_ and got sucked inside."

"You always get stuck at the little details, Harrison." Ash returned safely. "The important thing is, I caught myself a Magicarp, and will soon have a Gyarados on my team."

"It is your funeral." Harrison waved his hand at Ash's boast, letting out a yawn. "I guess I'll go to bed early tonight. The battle match-ups will be displayed tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"Why the delay?" Ash asked, genuinely interested.

Harrison shrugged. "No idea, said something about new rules or something. Will have to check in tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ash stood up from the couch. "Today's match was the toughest so far. Wonder who it is, I'm gonna face tomorrow."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll be battling against someone you never thought you'd."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "Harrison, we are on a cruise ship, sailing all the way, with a congregation of trainers across several regions. There is no way something like that would ever happen."

Harrison just raised an eyebrow.

* * *

 **The next day morning.**

Ash raced all the way to the deck, having woken up late, after being up most of the night, having intellectual, mental conversations with Metagross. As a result, he _somehow_ misplaced his alarm, and got out of bed later than he could expect in his nightmares. Somehow managing to change into his shirt and trousers, and pulling his pokémon belt over, he rushed off all the way to the deck, panting all the way, only to hear the referee stating, in his usual monotone.

"And the match will be held between…" The man gave a stern glare at Ash for being late, who was currently, staring in surprise at the person he was supposed to battle for the Top-8 position.

"—Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, and Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City."

 _The fuck?_

* * *

 **AN : The St. Anne set of events will be finished by the next two chapters. And yes, Ash has a Magicarp. Deal with it. Also, yes, the St. Anne will end up with a BANG ! and hopefully I'll be able to do the scene justice. I have some really nice ideas on that particular scene. Personally, I have LEGEND planned up for at least 400k words, after which I will have to start planning again. Then again, it is quite reduntant because every new chapter tends to scramble my original plans by a wee little bit.  
**

 **Like Magicarp for example.**

 **AN 2: Misty. Yeah, she is a wannabe water-type Master, and is certainly very knowledgeable about water pokemon. While I am not working towards a Ash-Misty romance, Misty will remain a character in the story, with quite an amount of interaction.**

 **Constructive reviews and suggestions are appreciated.**


	11. Battles lost and won

Ash couldn't help but keep staring, completely befuddled by the turn of events. Standing opposite him, staring back in kind, was Misty. Misty Waterflower from Cerulean. The same girl with whom he had formed a tentative friendship back in Cerulean, and who had contributed a great deal to his knowledge of water-pokémon, and aided him in his win against her own sisters.

Suddenly, he became highly conscious of the water stone that he carried in his bag. He hadn't used it, of course, since it was given to Poliwhirl and not him, so that Poliwhirl could evolve into Poliwrath- Misty's personal preference over Politoed for some reason. Then again, considering Poliwhirl's proclivity towards swimming all day, he would do better with those strong muscles that came with the evolution into the tough water/fighting-type.

"—between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Misty Waterflower of Cerulean city." The referee finished in his usual monotone.

"Ash?"

"Misty?"

"Ahem!" The referee made his point.

"Sorry!" Both the opponents flushed in embarrassment.

The man scowled before taking a step back, as the battle ground began to alter once again, this time replaced by a body of water, just as large as the platform. 'The battleground will be water for this match. This will be a three-on-three battle, rotations allowed." He lifted up the blue flag, "Blue Trainer, release your pokémon."

Misty, who _happened_ to be the Blue Trainer for the match, took out a single pokeball and threw it into the water. "Misty calls, Golduck!"

 _An evolved form of Psyduck, apparently. A water/psychic type then. I know just whom to choose against it._ Ash decided. "Go, Metagross."

"So your Metang finally evolved, huh?" Misty asked, from the other end.

"Yeah, just yesterday." Ash answered, with a grin.

"Nice. We'll see how he fares against my Golduck, then." Misty taunted.

"Trainers, if you would please go ahead with the battle?" The referee asked, irritation surging out of him in waves.

"Eh, right!" Ash looked embarrassed. "Alright, Metagross. I leave it up to you."

 _ **Of course. I am the one battling after all.**_

 _Wise ass._

Misty narrowed her eyes, but focussed on the battle. This was the second time she was facing Ash, and her previous battle hadn't really gone that well on her side. Then again, Golden was hardly experienced in battle, and Poliwag was a tough opponent, trained or not.

"Golduck, use water gun."

 _Stop it._

Just like he did with Typhlosion's flame thrower, the entire jet of incoming water literally froze in front of Metagross, as it went on accumulating, though instead of a sphere, this time it became a wall of unmoving water, a testament to the level to which Metagross had reached in terms of psychic potential.

Misty gaped at the sheer power and beauty of the move, before ordered another attack. "Use water pulse. Destroy that barrier."

 _Can you contain it?_

 _ **Easily.**_

 _Do it._

The water pulse splashed against the barrier, but just like before, it settled on the surface, adding to the thickness of the water barrier levitating in front of Metagross.

"Ice beam, golduck!"

 _ **This will require concentration, allowing the water to turn to ice without fragmenting.**_

 _I trust you._

The audience watched, enraptured as the entire wall of stationary water got hit by the powerful Ice-beam, transforming into a thick layer of ice instead.

"No way." Misty breathed.

 _Can you use bullet punch with all four arms on the wall at once?_

 _ **I suppose.**_

Pushing back all four of his appendages backwards, and generating a powerful momentum using psychic energy, Metagross slammed all four of his iron legs into the ice slab, shattering it into pieces, creating dozens of _ice-meteors,_ all of them falling down to the platform, propelled by Metagross's psychic powers.

"Golduck, jump into the water, now." Misty replied, knowing that the ice, because of its density, would float on the surface, creating a wall in front of Metagross, should it try any psychic attacks. Just as expected, the ice-meteors slammed down onto the water body, splashing water all around, completely drenching both trainers in the process.

"Ash Ketchum!" Misty snarled.

"Sorry!" Ash squeaked, before returning to the match. "Metagross, use thunder punch on the water."

"No, Golduck get out of the water now!"

It was easier said than done. While the ice layer would in fact, be a protection against psychic attacks, the large chunks of ice also hindered Golduck's movement inside the water. Thus, when the powerful thunder punch came slamming down into the water body, the sheer amount of electricity literally encompassed the entire platform, almost electrocuting Golduck who lay in the middle of it.

"Golduck, NO!" Misty screamed, before quickly pulling her pokeball and returning her pokémon. Once safely returned, she released him back on the ground, only to find him unconscious.

"Golduck is unable to battle. Metagross is the winner." The referee declared.

Returning Golduck back, Misty glared at Ash. "That, was a dirty move, you know."

Ash shrugged. "It worked. We are in a water-platform, and you are the wannabe water-master. Surely I deserve to take any advantage I can get against such overwhelming odds?"

"That's manipulative and underhanded, Ash Ketchum." Misty yelled.

"Your compliment is well-accepted." Ash mock-bowed.

Misty gritted her teeth. "You were much better when you were all ignorant and wanting for knowledge. Battling has gotten you cocky."

Ash raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"It's your funeral," Misty muttered darkly, as she choose her next pokémon. "Misty calls, Gyarados!"

And all hell went lose.

* * *

Ash's eyes widened into large, gaping saucers as he took in the sheer size of the colossal behemoth in front of him. To his knowledge, Gyarados usually were in the range of fifteen to twenty-three feet, and had aquiline body color all over, except the underbelly which were usually pale-yellowish in color. This behemoth on the other hand, easily topped thirty-five feet by the minimum, and instead of the aquiline shade, its scales were crimson red. Bloody hell, the colossal thing was bigger than the platform all together.

 _An honest-to-god shiny Gyarados._

Ash gulped. "Umm… Misty, you do know right that I can always offer to purchase you a new dress for the one I just drenched?"

 _ **I believe that is a smart suggestion.**_

"Gyarados is one of my oldest pokémon." Misty cooed- _yes, she cooed—_ at the infernal creature, who bent lower, much lower, so that it could reach Misty's hands, as she caressed her jaw, "—and she's downright protective of me."

Gyarados let out an infernal roar.

It must be noted, that at this moment, more than two-thirds of the audience had vanished from their seats, and the remaining ones had pokémon out, ready to shield them from the monstrous creature that looked way past _heavier_ than the entire ship altogether.

"Uh… Miss Waterflower?" The referee asked politely- unbelievable, yes—but politely indeed, "are you _absolutely sure_ that you are going to battle with that- Gyarados on this ship?"

Misty looked slightly puzzled. "Yes, why?"

Ash just raised both of his hands, pointing out everywhere, at the nearly empty spectator-stands.

"Oh." Misty realized. "Why don't we have a match in the sea then?"

Ash looked at her like she had gone completely past crazy. "Misty… a battle with a Gyarados in the sea? Especially with a large ship at such proximity?"

"Right." Misty replied sheepishly. She turned towards the referee. "Will be able to choose another pokémon in substitute for Gyarados, considering your hesitation in allowing her to fight here?"

"Normally no, but these are special circumstances, so considering the safety of the crowd, I will allow that just this once. Please keep the conditions of the battle in mind."

"Right." Misty replied, the sheepish expression still on her face. "Return, Gyarados." She stared at Ash, who hadn't issued a single order to Metagross during the battle. Either Metagross was simply that good, or Ash must have his own ways to-

 _So that's it._ A thin smirk appeared on her lips, as she took out another pokeball and threw it into the water. "Misty calls, Sharpedo."

The pokémon that appeared in the water looked like a large, blue shark with black eyes, with fins on all sides, and large, powerful jaws.

 _Use psychic._

Metagross's eyes glowed blue, as another slash of psychic energy shot towards Sharpedo, only to curve all over Sharpedo's body, before hitting the water everywhere.

 _ **The beast of the sea has powers of the Void, and slips past the hold of my powers.**_

 _The Void?_ Ash thought, before he was reminded with a vision of how Metang's psychic attacks had failed in holding Carvanha in a psychic trap.

 _A Dark type then._

 _ **Users of the Void.**_

 _Right. Well then, psychic powers are out of the question. Let's put your hulking frame into some use._

Metagross hummed.

 _Use thunder punch on the water. Let's see what happens._

One of Metagross's appendages glowed with electricity, as he came slamming down towards the water body.

"Stop him with Hydro pump!"

A powerful, pin-pointed jet of water slammed into Metagross, the mere momentum of it pushing the steel behemoth backwards, disrupting the very momentum he needed to perform an adequate thunder-punch. Sharpedo however, wasn't done yet.

"Use night slash!"

 _Attack with metal claw._

The two attacks slammed into each other, though night slash, which had a higher critical hit value, made a deep gash into Metagross, causing the iron leg pokémon to groan in slight pain.

 _We will avenge that. Use psychic on the water. Pull the entire thing up._ Ash roared in his mind.

Metagross's eyes glowed a powerful blue, as the entire water column rose like a giant tide, much to Misty's chagrin.

"Throw it down onto Sharpedo!"

"Swim over and use another night slash on Metagross!"

"Meteor Mash!"

The two attacks slammed into each other, with Sharpedo sent flying back to the pool, while Metagross groaned in pain, the dark technique causing agony to the psychic type.

 _Can you use Miracle Eye on that thing?_

 _ **I could, but the beast is too swift. Miracle Eye needs a stationary target.**_

 _Shit! We will need to get your weakness to Dark attacks sorted out._

 _ **You will find it more difficult than you expect, human Ash.**_

 _That may be, but rest for now._

Ash held out his pokeball. "Metagross, return!"

"And Ash Ketchum returns his Metagross. Does he have any other pokémon to counter Misty's Sharpedo?"

"I choose you, Pidgeotto!"

With a screech, Pidgeotto soared up into the air, staring at the shark-pokémon still in the water.

"Pidgeotto, use gust!" Ash commanded, suddenly realizing the vulnerability of having to say the orders aloud.

The avian began to beat her wings faster, creating an extremely powerful gust, causing severe turbulence in the water body.

"It won't work, Ash." Misty yelled from the other end. "Sharpedo's swim easily in turbulent seas. A little gust of wind isn't even comparable."

 _Is that so? Thank you for the information._ Ash thought inwardly. "Pidgeotto, use _twister."_

An entire column of water rose from the water platform, forming a tornado, as it sucked Sharpedo into it. However, Sharpedo being who it was, was quickly able to manoeuvre through the raging sea storm.

"Use Steel wing on Sharpedo!" Ash called out.

"Dive into the twister."

Just as Misty stated, Sharpedo quickly vanished into the twister, away from Pidgeotto, turning Pidgeotto's own attack into an impenetrable defence.

 _Damn. "_ Release the twister and use air slash!"

The twister dissipated, as Sharpedo found himself back in the pool, easily dodging attacks from the avian.

"We have dillydallied long enough. Finish this, Sharpedo. Use ice-beam!"

Sharpedo widened its jaws further, launching a powerful ice-beam towards Pidgeotto.

"Dodge it!"

With one single glide, Pidgeotto shifted past, missing the ice-beam, before flying directly on top of the shark-pokémon.

"This is going nowhere." Ash gritted his teeth. "Return Pidgeotto!"

"And Ash Ketchum returns back his second pokémon. Will his next choice be able to counter Misty's Sharpedo?" The commentator blared into his megaphone.

 _This will be more like a revenge-killer than anything else. I hope this works or else I might as well concede defeat right now._

Ash gritted his teeth. Busy with developing his pokémon's raw strength and power, he had totally neglected in getting them learn some long-ranged moves. He should have looked into something like Hyper Beam as a counter. Of course, Shelgon could perform dragon-breath and dragon-pulse, and so could Charmander, but their lack of speed rendered them useless in such a position.

 _I will have to rectify that._

"Go, Crawdaunt."

As the red light dissipated, the rogue pokémon appeared in the water, raising his pincers in intimidation.

"A dark type against my own?" Misty asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's not going to be that easy, Ash."

Ash gave a soft smile. "I never expected it to be."

Misty smirked. "Sharpedo, time to show why you are the biggest bully in the seas. Use Aqua jet."

"Use swift, Crawdaunt, and attack with Vice-Grip."

"Night slash!"

The two attacks slammed into each other, locking Crawdaunt's crabhammer into Sharpedo's powerful jaws.

"Sharpedo, pull him into the water."

Just as ordered, Sharpedo pulled Crawdaunt into the water, swimming backwards like nobody's business.

"Get him disoriented, and use poison fang!"

Ash grit his teeth, watching Crawdaunt getting dragged all over the water, knowing very well that the poison would soon start acting. If he didn't do anything yet, Crawdaunt would lose the match.

"Hit him with your own pincer. Use Crabhammer."

That, put Sharpedo in trouble.

Despite its sheer strength and agility, Sharpedo lacked any form of appendages, its only body parts capable of attack being its jaws and its fins. With the other pincer inside its jaws, Sharpedo was having a difficult time as Crawdaunt kept on slamming its powerful pincer on Sharpedo's head.

"Slam into to the sides of the pool." Misty yelled.

"Not so easy." Ash countered. "Crawdaunt, use ice-beam with your own pincer!"

"Sharpedo, leave him quickly!"

Before that could happen, a powerful ice-beam launched into Sharpedo's innards, having been born in the pincer that had been inside its own jaws. In a matter of moments, Sharpedo was completely trapped inside a large mass of ice, as the entire thing floated up at the surface, with a completely trapped and disillusioned Sharpedo inside it.

"Sharpedo is unable to battle. Crawdaunt is the winner."

Misty scowled. "Fine. Try my oldest pokémon." She plucked another pokeball and threw it into the pool. "Misty calls, Kingdra!"

The pokémon that turned corporeal from the red light resembled a large, blue dragon with two horns above its head, two vestigial flippers at the back and a yellow underbelly, at least from what was visible above the water.

"A Kingdra?" Ash whispered, in awe. Kingdra were, in general, very powerful creatures with a wide range of attacks, and packed agility, power and control all in one. The mere presence of such a pokémon was enough to convince Ash that the battle would be anything but easy.

"Crawdaunt, get ready." Ash stressed, "Use bubble beam!"

Kingdra simply made an odd gurgling sound, as a wall of water rose in front of her, absorbing the bubble-beam attack.

 _Right. Kingdra are masters at water manipulation. I forgot._ "Use agility to get close, and fire an ice beam at Kingdra!"

Crawdaunt did the same, using its technique to swim as fast as possible, while preparing the ice-beam. The moment it was ready, the crustacean fired the ice beam towards the dragon.

"Counter with your own ice-beam!"

Kingdra gurgled loudly, before it threw out an immensely powerful ice-beam at a moment's notice, which shot past the water surface, slamming into Crawdaunt's own attack, pushing it back to the crustacean, freezing him into a mass of ice.

And just like that, Crawdaunt was defeated.

"That's one powerful Kingdra there," the commentator went on, "with one single attack, it froze Crawdaunt, sending it out of the competition."

 _Yeah, I didn't know that. Tell me more._ Ash scowled, returning Crawdaunt. Trying to battle this… draconic monster with Pidgeotto would only cause him another defeat, and with the last two matches ending up with defeat for the avian, Ash didn't think it would do well to Pidgeotto's morale.

"Metagross, I choose you. End this match now."

"What a fitting end. Wouldn't you say?" Misty yelled from the other side.

"Yeah." Ash returned darkly. _Metagross, don't take this one lightly. The Kingdra is powerful._

 _ **Powerful, aqua-dragon in a match on water. Your choices for battles do wonders for my pride.**_

 _What's with you and being so dramatic?_

 _ **You are my trainer.**_

 _Yeah—wait, what?_

Metagross hummed in amusement, as he floated across the water body, levitating towards the Kingdra who merely watched as the steel-type in return.

"Kingdra, show them your power!"

Kingdra rose from the water, levitating upwards, into the air, matching Metagross in his altitude, a statement if there was one. Once there, she gurgled out loudly,

"Use psy beams."

"Dragon pulse."

The two attacks slammed into each other, causing an explosion.

"Raise the water, Kingdra, use twister."

Kingdra let out a long gurgle, as several columns of water rose out of the pool, conjoining together to form a vast twisting column of water, with Kingdra at the center, staring at Metagross.

 _Metagross, I have something in mind that might be able to take this Kingdra down._

 _ **Of course.**_

 _And I don't think you are gonna like it._

With a mechanical roar, Metagross suddenly shot towards the twister, using his psychic-enhanced agility to maximum limit, towards the sea-dragon right in the center of the towering column of water.

"Kingdra, stop him with Dragon pulse!"

Kingdra shot out a powerful dragon pulse, but thanks to his agility, Metagross somehow dodged it as he approached closer and closer.

"Strengthen the twister and use Dragon breath. Annihilate that Metagross."

The twister kept broadening as the waters kept running with increasing velocity, except a single region from where a highly powerful dragon breath shot out, aimed directly for Metagross.

 _Use psychic to protect yourself from the attack, and dive in deep._

 _ **This will consume all of my power.**_

 _I told you, you weren't going to like it._

The forceful dragon-breath hit the Metagross face-first, pushing it back, as it burned him, despite the psychic shield trying to hold it back. Using his entire power, metagross pushed up ahead, trudging through the dragon-pulse, as he braced himself, removed his shields, and used all of his power to propel himself ahead, slamming directly into the Kingdra head-first.

"Kingdra!" Misty yelled in shock. "Hyper beam! Stop it now!"

"Meteor-mash, full power!" Ash yelled, as Metagross used every ounce of his power to slam his last attack into the dragon, who returned with a powerful hyper beam directly in the face.

The explosion that occurred literally smashed against the water column, almost evaporating half of it by its sheer temperature. When the smoke receded, two pokémon were floating on the top of the remaining pool. Metagross, and Kingdra, had been rendered unconscious.

"Both Kingdra and Metagross are unable to battle. Since the Blue Trainer has lost all three pokémon, the winner is- Ash Ketchum!"

Misty felt her knees weaken as she slid down to the floor, before returning her oldest friend back to her pokeball. After a moment of silence, she looked up towards Ash and gave him a soft smile. "That was a good battle, Ash."

"Thanks." Ash returned, his entire body shaken, as he returned Metagross. "You are one, powerful trainer."

Misty chuckled.

* * *

 **Sometime later.**

"I am seriously confused now. How come we didn't see each other over the week?"

"Depends, really." Misty replied, as she walked beside her friend. "I had my matches in the evening. You?"

"Morning." Ash replied sheepishly. "I was a little… engrossed in stuff over the evenings." _Like meeting with Shirona._

"Oh." Misty raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't think I'd see you here, on the ship."

"Yeah, me too." Misty agreed, a tad embarrassed. "But this was an option to visit three regions and meet so many water pokémon, so I couldn't resist."

Ash chuckled at that. "So, you are gonna travel all the way to Alola?"

"I guess…" Misty drawled out. "What about you? I don't think you'd stick long after the tournament is done with, what with the way you dashed out of Cerulean after winning the badge."

"Glad I did too." Ash murmured.

"What did you say?"

"Uh… nothing. I had some pretty interesting experiences since I left Cerulean." He didn't say that his time after leaving Cerulean had been a constant set of _interesting_ experiences. Interesting and life-threatening both.

"Oh, like?"

"Well, I got this Charmander. He was sitting on a rock, in the rain, deserted bv his trainer. Metang helped me get it to the Pokémon center on Bavarian cliff, and after that, I got to visit the Lighthouse."

"You met Bill Montgomery?" Misty asked, widening her eyebrows.

"Why wouldn't I?" She retorted. "I have always wanted to meet him." She replied jealously.

"Well, he's a good friend, if a little overbearing at times." Ash described. "Maybe I'll introduce you to him sometime?"

"You would?" Misty asked hopefully.

Ash shrugged. "You are my friend."

"Oh." Misty suddenly looked away, towards the vast expanses of the sea. The two of them had finally reached the second floor, where all the trainers lived. "Where's your room?"

"Uh, towards this side, and yours?"

Misty pointed out in the reverse direction. "Most of the trainers there are from Hoenn and Sinnoh."

"Oh."

"Hey, Ash?" Came a somewhat uncertain voice from behind.

Ash spun around instantly, surprised to see Shirona standing there, behind him. "I uh… came to congratulate you for the match. That final move literally kicked that Kingdra's ass." The moment she spoke those words, Misty spun around, as Cynthia shut her mouth, realizing who the other person was. "Uh… no offence really. Your Kingdra was pretty powerful too."

"Thanks." Misty replied tersely, glaring at the blonde-haired girl in front of her, and wondering what she might have to do with Ash. "And you are?"

"She's Shirona." Ash introduced, "she's with the Sinnoh League envoys."

Misty raised an eyebrow. She had met the League envoys that were residing in the rooms on her side, and this girl wasn't one of them. She stepped forward elegantly, extending her hand at the stranger. "Pleased to meet you."

Cynthia shook her hand gingerly. "Likewise."

"So you are a trainer?"

"Nah!" It was Ash who answered. "She's a veteran, who now does some boring, unspeakable job for the Sinnoh league. Though, I am supposed to believe that she can kick ass whenever she wants."

Cynthia chortled at that explanation. "That sounds about right."

"You seem to know an awful lot about her." Misty accused, keeping any and all kind of hostility from her voice. Something about the girl's association with Ash didn't feel good to her.

"Yes," Cynthia chuckled. "Ash did treat me to ice-cream the previous day, rather magnanimous considering he almost lost all his money."

Misty looked questioningly at Ash.

"Don't ask." Ash scowled. "Anyway, this is Misty Waterflower." He introduced her to Cynthia. "She is a wannabe Water-Master and soon-to-be Gym leader for Cerulean city, and knows stuff about water pokémon like you wouldn't believe."

Misty blushed under the praise. Being the youngest out of four competitive sisters, she rarely had a chance to be praised, especially when all three of her sisters were stronger, powerful and prettier than her. For some reason, this blonde-haired girl had begun to incite some negative emotions inside her heart, reasons she couldn't fully comprehend yet.

"She helped me a lot, especially with Poliwhirl back then." Ash finished.

"Speaking of that, where's the little jokester?"

"Somewhere…" Ash waved it away. "He's been sort of a rarity ever since I've gotten here. I don't get it how someone could just keep on swimming like that all day."

"Poliwhirl can do that." Misty answered, almost automatically. Considering its behaviour, I am more confident that he's going to prefer being a Poliwrath."

Ash shrugged. "Either is fine by me."

"Poliwrath is a part fighting type." Misty deadpanned.

Ash's face was a good representation of his feelings.

 _Sold._

"So… you two are travelling together or something?" Misty asked.

"Nah, I just met her four days ago, on the ship." Ash clarified. "I've been travelling with Harrison, a friend of mine I met back in Vermillion."

"Ah." Misty deadpanned.

"Speaking of Harrison, I don't believe I ever met him." Cynthia asked curiously.

"He might be… somewhere on the ship. Harrison has the habit of vanishing away at times. He did that back in Vermillion too."

"Right."

"Wait… Harrison as in the guy from Hoenn with an Arcanine?" Misty asked.

"The very same." Ash replied. "Saw his battles?"

"Two of them. That Arcanine is pretty powerful though obviously young."

"Evolved only a month ago." Ash clarified.

"So Ash…" Cynthia began, "I was wondering if we could talk about the… issue earlier?"

Something about Ash's stance _shifted._ "Are you going to call my pokémon _unnatural_ again?"

Cynthia raised her hands in surrender. "I am not, and seriously, stop with the defensive act. I just pointed out that your Charmander has… issues. Jeez, I didn't threaten you with killing it."

"I have problems with anyone calling any of my pokémon, that." Ash returned sternly.

"Okay." Cynthia, still hands-raised. "Sorry." She replied coolly. "Your Metagross is pretty powerful though," she stopped midway, before continuing, "as is that Kingdra." She stared at Misty. "You must have trained her pretty well."

"She's been with me since I was four, when she was a Horsea. Protected me against a bunch of Tentacruel."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. A Horsea standing against Tentacruel? "That was certainly brave of her. Tentacruel are rather… ruthless."

"Do you have Tentacruel back there in Sinnoh?"

"No, but you do get to meet the occasional trainer with one of those things. The world's pretty small, you know." Cynthia answered. And for the record, that Gyarados of yours looked practically legendary. I have never seen anything that large in my life."

"She's… _special."_ Misty answered, flushing slightly.

"That reminds me…" Ash suddenly rummaged through his belt, getting odd looks from the girls. "Ah, here it is."

"What's about that pokeball?" Misty asked.

"Not the ball, but the pokémon inside it." Ash replied proudly.

"What pokémon?" Cynthia asked, curious.

"My option for long-ranged attacks." Ash replied proudly. "Behold…" he pressed the release button.

It should be noted that the moment the pokeball opened, it seemed like bright, golden light shone all across the world, literally encompassing the entire ship in its wake.

Or maybe that was because they were all peeping into the pokeball to notice anything else.

The golden light then slowly waned, as it condensed, turning into the corporeal form of Ash Ketchum's great capture.

"Karp! Karp!"

Cynthia and Misty literally had their jaw drop to the floor, completely bewildered. Then, they got to their senses, each girl glaring at the owner who was grinning like a loon.

"Ash, that's a Magikarp!" Cynthia pointed out.

"Karp! Karp! Karp!"

"Yeah, and I need to help him evolve into a Gyarados!" Ash answered.

"Karp! Karp! Karp!"

"You… want a Gyarados?" Misty asked, looking somewhat surprised. "Why didn't you tell me back earlier?"

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. To her knowledge, Gyarados were known as the atrocious pokémon, and were incredibly dangerous. They weren't supposed to be cotton candy, like this strange girl was saying.

"Get back." Misty pushed the somewhat befuddled boy backwards, as she assumed prime position before the Magikarp, who was hopelessly diligent to keep on _splashing_ on the floor.

"Wow, you are _so adorable!"_ Misty cooed, slowly caressing the sides of the fish pokémon, which seemed to have gained a slight pink coloration just beside its tentacles.

"Personally, I'm not sure if adorable is the right word for-", Cynthia began but was silenced with a venomous glare from the redhead, who countered, "they need to feel proud of themselves to evolve. Now shut it and help me."

"Uh, guys, what exactly are you-?" Ash tried, completely confused by the turn of events. From what Bill had mentioned, he had a _special_ way to make Magikarp evolve quickly. Surely being called _adorable_ wasn't one of them?

"I'm pretty sure that Magikarp here can splash like no one else." Misty was saying.

"Karp! Karp! Karp!"

"Yeah, and he looks pretty strong too. Look how easily he's staying on ground."

"Karp! Karp! Karp!" Said Magikarp in question was turning redder by the minute. If Ash was any denser, he would have denied that Magikarp was in fact, blushing from the ever-growing affection from the two beautiful ladies before him.

"Yeah!" Misty decided to go ahead and give said Magikarp a little hug, which-

"Karp! Karp! Karp!"

"Girls, Magikarp is glowing!" Ash yelled from behind.

"Water! Throw him into the water, now!" Misty yelled back, as she got up, and with Cynthia's help, threw Magikarp into the sea, before a huge beam of light shot out of the water surface, condensing into a humongous, serpentine structure, as the atrocious pokémon came into being.

Gyarados let out an almighty roar.

Ash's knees hit the floor.

Gyarados then slowly lowered his large maw, lower and lower until it could reach Misty, before making a gurgling sound, as Misty caressed it. "See Ash? I told you, Gyarados are pretty cute if you are good to them."

Ace face-palmed.

* * *

"And that is how I got myself a Gyarados!" Ash finished, his left eye twitching at how Harrison was now rolling on the floor, laughing his ass off.

"Oho!" Harrison held his stomach, which was now paining, as he tried to get up and contain his mirth, failing dismally once again. "That has got to be the funniest incident I've ever heard of."

Ash scowled.

"Where is your Gyarados by the way?" Harrison asked weakly, trying to stop himself from snorting again.

Ash raised his right hand, and pointed towards the east, far into the sea, where two Gyarados, one red and one blue, were having _fun,_ making all sorts of noises that would, in all probability, turn a younger Gyarados blush.

"Is that-?"

"Yep."

"Are they-?"

"Yep."

Harrison face-palmed.

"The funny thing is, Gyarados seems perfectly willing to follow orders. Apparently, Misty overloaded its sense of self-pride, and that reduced its proclivity to devastate. Don't ask how, I don't understand it myself."

"Misty is a wannabe water-master, right?" Harrison asked curiously.

"Yep."

"Well, when in Rome…." Harrison drawled out. "I guess, water-masters would understand water-pokémon best." He looked back at Ash and gave a grin. "I guess that helps you a little, since you are apparently facing me in the Top-4?"

"I… what?"

* * *

 **Two days later.**

"Finally, we have our Top-4 contestants for our Clubsplosion event. On Team One, we have Harrison from Little Root Town of Hoenn, who will be facing Ash from Pallet Town of Kanto. On Team 2, we have Ritchie from Frodomar city, also of Kanto, who will be facing Jon Dickson of Sento Cherry Town of Johto."

The commentator paused for a moment. "Our judge panel have decided that between the defeated contestants of Team 1 and Team 2, whoever has attained more points in the battles so far will be declared the second-runner up for the tournament."

That rule was true to the standard rules of the League. For every single battle, a trainer was awarded points, based on his intuitiveness, his pokémon, his ability to think outside the box, and of course, the number of straight victories he had up to that point. Considering all of that, each trainer would get a specific point out of ten, which were given by the judges.

The scoreboard flashed as the contents altered, instead showing the faces of the four champions, and their respective points that each of them had scored until now.

Ash had scored a total of 48 out of 60 while Harrison a 51 out of 60. Ritchie on the other hand, had a 42 out of 60 while Jon Dickson had a 47. All in all, Harrison had been leading amongst the top-4 participants.

"So, let's start with Team 1, please welcome, Ash Ketchum and Harrison."

Harrison, who had been standing beside Ash all this while, gave a soft tap on his shoulder. "I guess, this is it. One of us will go to the finals."

"Yeah," Ash agreed, feeling a little odd at considering that it would be only one who could progress to the finals. In his mind, both of them would have been there, to contest for the final prize.

"Then again, it's pretty good for a rookie to get to the semi-finals with so many experienced trainers around. You should be proud of yourself if you don't make it any further." Harrison taunted good-naturedly.

"Yeah, when I defeat you, you'll know how those _experienced_ trainers felt when I moved up and they didn't." Ash countered.

"Trainers Ash and Harrison, please take your places." The referee commanded. The platform let out a hiss, as it slowly sunk down, to be replaced by a thick layer of solid ice. "The battleground for the match will be ice." The man paused again before continuing. "This will be a three-on-three battle, rotations allowed mid-battle. The first person to lose three pokémon, loses." He lifted the red flag, "Red trainer chooses first."

Harrison, who was standing on the Red position, lifted a pokeball up in the air, as he threw it into the icy platform. "Go, Houndoom."

 _So, you want to begin with a dark/fire type, to counteract my Metagross, eh?_ Ash thought, as he considered his position. Two days ago, he would've been just indecisive, but rather horrified by the mere suggestion. Now though, he knew that he could go ahead with the plan.

"Check this out, Harrison. I choose you, Gyarados."

The pokeball split open, as a humongous structure materialized into view, the atrocious pokémon finally turning corporeal in front of everyone. After Ash and Misty's battle, the organizers had literally tripled the defences, not really wanting another _almost-occurred-catastrophe_ on St. Anne.

"Ash Ketchum has chosen Gyarados against Harrison's Houndoom, but will type-advantage be enough to counter Houndoom's power?" The commentary went on in the background.

"I sincerely hope you aren't, Ash." Harrison yelled from the other side.

"Don't worry." Ash countered back.

"Houndoom, use flamethrower."

"Gyarados, return with dragon rage."

The two powerful attacks met each other midway, resulting a large explosion, which could be called the perfect start of an amazing battle between the two trainers.

"Get closer towards Gyarados and use fire fang!"

It was more difficult than expected. The ice field wasn't one for quick movement, considering how slippery it was. Houndoom was certainly having a rather difficult time trying to counteract the loss of resistance of the floor.

"Gyarados, let's help Houndoom a little." Ash teased. "Use _splash_ on the floor."

Splash was, in simple terms, the most pathetic attack move ever. However, even completely worthless moves could be used in extraordinary ways.

One such way was to be used by a twenty-foot tall sea serpent, heavier than five hundred pounds in sheer mass, over a thick block of ice.

The moment Gyarados used Splash, the sheer momentum of that move literally shattered the ice layer, dissolving it into water, on which several other chunks of ice now floated.

"Use splash on the water with your tail."

The moment Gyarados came down on the water with its tail, the sheer power raised the water on either side, drenching Houndoom completely.

"Thanks for the impromptu bathing experience, Ash." Harrison replied in a falsely-sweet voice. That was when Ash noticed that not even Harrison had been untouched by the attack.

"Sorry."

"You will be saying that again, and again." Harrison sneered. "Houndoom, use inferno!"

"Dragon rage." Ash commanded, as another set of attacks caught up in a stale mate.

It was almost funny, that for a pokémon so… useless, like Magikarp, to have such a miraculous state of evolution. Even if one were to ignore the sheer mass and size of Gyarados, the draconic serpents were also able to automatically learn the moves Dragon Rage and Hyper Beam, without any kind of external aid, almost as if evolution itself granted them knowledge to perform those two offensive attacks.

"Use fire blast!"

"Hyper beam!"

"Stop playing defensive, Ash. Attack like a real man." Harrison taunted.

"I am a kid, Harrison." Ash bit back. "Stop asking to play otherwise."

The brown-haired trainer sneered. "Fine, try this. Houndoom, get closer to Gyarados and use fire fang!"

"Capture that Houndoom with your tail, and squeeze it."

Just as expected, Gyarados was able to capture Houndoom with its own serpentine body, crushing him from all sides, as Houndoom yelped in pain.

"Now use Dark Pulse at Gyarados on the face."

"Gyarados, repel with hydro pump!"

It was too late. This time, Gyarados's size was a liability, as the dark pulse came crashing down on him, scoring a powerful attack. Taking that opportunity, Houndoom threw out another two Dark pulses on the fallen serpent, who was trying hard to get up.

"Lash out with your tail." Ash commanded, as Gyarados slammed its tail right at Houndoom, hitting it straight in the abdomen, as it was flung away towards the boundaries, heavily injured. By some miracle, it managed to get itself up and standing, but barely just.

"Houndoom, one last attack." Harrison pleaded, "Destiny bond."

"What is that?" Ash asked, perplexed, as a thin line of otherworldly energy connected both Houndoom and Gyarados, before vanishing away.

"But nothing's happened." Ash pronounced, and indeed, nothing happened. No one attacked, no one blocked.

Then, Houndoom suddenly lost consciousness and dropped onto the floor. In a matter of seconds, Gyarados too, all of a sudden, let out a groan, and lost consciousness.

"Both Gyarados and Houndoom are unable to battle. Trainers, choose your next pokémon."

"But… what happened?" Ash inquired.

"Destiny bond," Harrison explained. "A self-suicidal, revenge attack. If the user faints, the victim faints."

"But, that's—that's unfair." Ash retorted.

Harrison chuckled. "It's a battle. And just to get things straight, you didn't put Gyarados against my Houndoom. I pitched Houndoom against your Gyarados."

"What do you mean?"

"My other pokémon have been mapped to yours. Gyarados was a new card, so it was best to remove it out of the equation. Houndoom was the optimal pokémon to get that done."

Ash was stunned. For all his life, he had only known straight-forward battling, a clash of power against power, with unpredictability thrown in at strange corners. Harrison on the other hand, seemed to consider it like a game of chess, where if necessary, one must sacrifice a pawn to win the battle. It was kind of demeaning, and also ruthless, then again, who was Ash to question him, when Ash himself relied on overwhelming his battles himself?

"I use every advantage I get." Harrison answered, "You taught me that."

Ash just stood there, flummoxed. One thing was clear, despite having a powerful team, he still had a lot to learn as a trainer. Harrison didn't just train his pokémon, he trained them in groups, making sure that they were all arranged like chess pieces, where one could counteract the weakness of another.

"Trainers, choose your next pokémon." The referee reiterated.

Harrison took out his next pokeball. "Now that your long-range attacker is out of commission, time to bring out the big guns." He smirked. "Go, Arcanine."

Ash gritted his teeth, as he returned Gyarados. "I choose you, Poliwhirl."

"Predictable." Harrison mocked. "Return, Arcanine. Go Blastoise."

The fiery beast was sucked in and replaced by the hulking turtle pokémon, who let out a roar.

"Not happening, Harrison." Ash retorted, "Poliwhirl, return," he returned the rock-type, before throwing in another pokeball. "Go, Metagross."

Harrison smirked. "Return Blastoise." A surprised audience watched him return Blastoise and replace him back with Arcanine.

"Are you going to keep doing that?"

"Just fixing opponents for my team. I feel like my Arcanine can do with better opponents like your Metagross."

Ash narrowed his eyes. Harrison had watched each and every of Ash's battles and spoken about them to him at length. He had done a rather good analysis of them too. In hindsight, he should have understood that he was literally giving away his techniques to his future opponent. Harrison knew all his cards, while keeping his own hidden, and hence, having an extra trump card under his sleeve.

 _I guess the best thing I can do is be unpredictable._

"I will continue with Metagross."

"Indeed?" Harrison provoked. "And if he loses, then wont your Poliwhirl have a tough time against my Blastoise?"

"Not if Metagross already defeats your Arcanine in the first place."

Harrison laughed. "Then let the best trainer win."

Ash nodded.

* * *

Cynthia observed the battle from the stands. One thing was clear, Ash had powerful pokémon, but Harrison was a far better trainer, displaying the level of calmness and planning that only comes with rigorous experience. In a battle of raw power, Harrison's pokémon would get decimated by Ash's, despite the latter having so less experience. However, the brown,-haired young man from Hoenn had literally taken his weaknesses and turned them into strength.

 _This is going to be really difficult._

Gyarados was already eliminated out of the competition, and with the choice of battlefield being water and ice, using Rhydon wasn't an option. Metagross and Poliwhirl were left against Arcanine and Blastoise, and now Arcanine had been pitched against Metagross, who was, for all intents and purposes, Ash's most versatile pokémon so far.

 _How will you defeat such a tricky opponent, Ash Ketchum?_

* * *

Meanwhile back on the battleground, Metagross soared up in the air, above the battleground that consisted of water with ice chunks floating all over, as Arcanine stood on one of the larger chunks of ice, growling at the iron leg pokémon.

 _We need to defeat Arcanine as quickly as possible, and if not, I need you to get out quick without getting injured._ Ash communicated mentally.

 _ **Understood.**_

"Arcanine, start with fire blast!" Harrison began, as Arcanine let out a loud howl, before unleashing a torrent of flames which expanded out towards Metagross.

 _Raise the water, use it as shield._

"Arcanine, use swift and use bite on Metagross."

 _Stop using psychic shields._

Metagross raised psychic defences in front of him, but shockingly enough, Arcanine was able to pass through it, as he scored a direct hit, on Metagross. It was only because of his steel-typing that stopped him from everything but superficial injury.

 _Use disable on him._

Metagross's eyes glowed blue, as he tried to capture Arcanine using his psychic powers, but Harrison seemed to have other ideas in mind.

"Use extreme speed, Arcanine. Don't let Metagross contain you."

Despite Metagross's attempts, Arcanine was moving awfully fast for him to even try holding him back.

"Now use hyper beam!"

 _Psychic, full power._

The two beams collided into each other, but because of their point of collision being closer to Metagross, the steel-type was sent flying towards the walls, before he somehow contained the motion using his psychic abilities.

 _This is getting difficult. I will let Poliwhirl deal with this._ Ash decided. "Metagross, return."

Harrison smirked.

Ash took out Poliwhirl's pokeball in his hand, as he muttered. "All my hopes for defeating that Arcanine is on you, Poliwhirl." He threw the ball up in the air, "Go, Poliwhirl."

With a loud gurgle, Poliwhirl entered the fray.

"And Ash Ketchum replaces Metagross with Poliwhirl. Will Poliwhirl be able to win against Arcanine?" The commentator blared.

"And now you do not have the advantage of psychic-link as well." Harrison revealed loudly, much to Ash's chagrin. It seemed he was playing into Harrison's traps more and more since the start of the match.

"Poliwhirl, get into the water, and start with water gun."

"Dodge it." Harrison commanded lazily. "Use fire blast!"

"Get into the water."

"Continue using fire blast!" Harrison ordered.

 _What is he thinking?_ Ash wondered, before he noticed it. With every single fire blast, Arcanine was literally reducing the entire water-ice field to water, save the tiny portion he had for himself. But why would he-?

 _Shit. I have to end this now._

"Poliwhirl, jump up and use ice-beam on Arcanine."

"Use extreme speed, and jump to the sky." Harrison countered, as Arcanine used the powers of extreme speed, and propelled himself into the air, narrowly escaping the ice-beam.

"Time to finish this." Harrison yelled, "Use fire blast on Poliwhirl again."

"Poliwhirl, get into the water again."

Harrison laughed. "Got you, Ash. Arcanine, dive into the water and use wild charge."

"What?" Ash yelled in absolute shock. Arcanine was a fire-type, and jumping into the water with an electric attack would mean electrocution for the fiery beast.

"Now!"

Arcanine let out a roar, still in the air, as he activated wild charge, jumping into the pool. In a matter of seconds, the wild charge, amplified by the water all around it, literally shocked the wits out of both Arcanine and by extension, Poliwhirl, rendering both of them out of the competition.

"Both Arcanine and Poliwhirl are unable to battle. Trainers choose your next pokémon." The referee stated loudly.

"And with a rather daring move, .Harrison has once again neutralized both his own and Ash's pokémon in a single strike. Now, Harrison has one fresh pokémon Blastoise, against Ash's Metagross, who was injured in the battle against Arcanine. Will Harrison's plan prevail or will Metagross be able to win despite extraneous conditions?"

Within a matter of seconds, Metagross was back, and floating above the layer of water. Harrison had similarly, called upon Blastoise, who was apparently his strongest pokémon.

"So it all comes to this. My Blastoise hasn't even battled yet, and your Metagross is wounded. Who will win?" Harrison asked rhetorically.

Ash didn't bother to reply. _Metagross, get ready._

 _ **At your command.**_

"Blastoise, show them a real Hydro pump." Harrison commanded, as Blastoise let out a loud roar, before throwing out twin jets of water from his two cannons.

 _Use psychic to stop them._

Almost immediately, the incoming water torrents were diverted from their path, as a blue aura surrounded them, diverting them back towards Blastoise.

"Use Water pulse."

The spheres of compressed water slammed into the incoming torrents, nullifying both of them.

"Use Flash Cannon!"

"Psy beam!"

This time, the more powerful Flash Cannon attack rammed into Metagross, pushing him back.

"Use Rapid Spin!"

Blastoise receded back into his shell as it began spinning in the air, throwing jets of water from its orifices, as it lashed towards Metagross.

 _Use Meteor Mash, Metagross._

Before Metagross could fire up a full-powered Meteor Mash, the harder-than-diamond shell of Blastoise came slamming into Metagross, injuring him heavily, as two of his appendages went flailing in pain.

"Metagross!" Ash yelled in frustration. "Hold that Blastoise and use Bullet Punch!"

Metagross was past caring now. His own vitals were beyond low, but he only concentrated on one single thing. Keep on smashing his four appendages onto Blastoise's thick shell, as the continuous succession of punches came slamming into Blastoise, making the giant turtle pokémon cry out in pain.

"Blastoise, use Hyper Beam!"

"Meteor Mash!" Ash cried out.

The two attacks collided, exploding outward, literally throwing the giant beasts towards opposite ends, as both Blastoise and Metagross went flying, slamming against the psychic walls that separated the battlefield from the stands. Both Ash and Harrison stood shaken, somehow managing to keep standing on their respective platforms, as smoke engulfed the entire battleground.

When the smoke receded, two figures were visible. One, was a fallen Metagross, completely disoriented and unable to battle, while on the other end, stood Blastoise, panting, his shell fractured, and in pain, but standing, nevertheless.

"Metagross is unable to battle. The winner is Harrison and Blastoise.'

Ash felt his knees hit the floor. The battle was over, and he, had lost.

* * *

 **AN: One more chapter remaining, before the St. Anne arc is finally over. The next chapter should be quite big. I am estimating around 13k, but let's see what it turns out.**


	12. Omens and coincidences

_Bagon took consecutive attacks on itself, evolving into Shelgon to secure me a win. Metang suffered so much before evolving to Metagross just so that I could win. Rhydon, Poliwhirl, Pidgeotto, Crawdaunt… all of them did so much to contribute to my victories, one after another. Even Gyarados did his best._

 _What did I give back? What did I pay them with, for the efforts they contributed towards my successes so far? What good am I if it took merely a good tricky move to defeat me? I had the type advantage, the field advantage, the power advantage… and yet, and yet I lost._

 _Horribly._

 _Houndoom, a fire type, defeated my Gyarados, a water type, in a pool. Arcanine, a fire type, defeated my Poliwhirl, a water type, in a pool. All things considered, Blastoise doesn't even come into account._

 _What was the result of so much training, if my own lack of knowledge and experience is so staggering? What good am I?_

"Hey, Ash?"

It was Shirona.

Ash didn't turn around, as he kept on staring at the expansive ocean around him, standing on a rather solitary end of the ship's deck. He had always liked this place, since it allowed him to clear his mind and introspect himself. Today however…

"I just wanted to say that, it was a great match. Your parents and friends ought to be proud of you." Shirona replied softly.

"Fat lot of good it did," Ash chuckled mirthlessly. "I lost horribly to Harrison."

"I disagree."

Ash spun around at her statement. "Why?"

"You didn't lose to Harrison. You lost to your own inexperience." She raised a finger to stop Ash from contradicting. "Let me finish. Your team is powerful, I get it. In fact, many league participants would be worried to face the team you have built for yourself in a month's time."

Ash looked up. "They still lost, because of me."

"Aren't you listening?" Cynthia chastised him. "Despite their power and skill, it's been merely a _month_ that you began your training. To think that you would have gained enough experience to defeat anyone and everyone is not only arrogance, but foolishness."

Ash kept quiet.

"Don't you think that Metagross's victory against Typhlosion constitutes a win? Or Shelgon's against Electabuzz? Your pokémon fought to win you so many matches? Don't you think that those also contribute to victory?"

"Of course they d0." Ash retorted angrily. "I'm not blaming my pokémon. I'm blaming myself."

"For what?" Cynthia asked coolly.

"For being so easy to be taken off-guard." Ash answered, gnashing his teeth in frustration. "Harrison literally played me from the beginning of the match, and I let him."

"Harrison is a trainer who has had a year-worth of experience." Cynthia countered, "Yes, I checked his profile. You on the other hand, have less than a month, and yet, the match could've easily gone differently had Blastoise been a little more injured. Think where you would be with a year of experience under your belt."

Ash looked away.

"Honestly, I think that it has been for the best that you lost the battle."

Ash spun around angrily. "Take that back. I could've won. I could've defeated Harrison had I been prepared about his tricks."

Cynthia's lips curled. "Indeed? So tell me, great Ash Ketchum, what else could you have done in the battle you just lost?"

"I would have won if I knew that Harrison fights like a sneaky little bitch. That, despite having so many advantages, my pokémon could still get their asses handed over to them. That I have only focussed on a single side of pokémon training, ignoring everything else."

"Like?" Cynthia tilted her head in curiosity.

Ash looked down. "I focussed only on increasing my pokémon's raw strength, never on their weaknesses. I did nothing to counteract Metang's weakness against dark types back then in Vermillion, and the same carried over to Metagross. I focussed only on developing his psychic and steel-type attacks, ignoring any form of long-ranged attacks."

"True." Cynthia agreed wholeheartedly.

"The same is true for Rhydon. I did nothing to work on his lack of speed, or his weakness against water. Had I done that, I could have used him instead of Poliwhirl. Poliwhirl, Pidgeotto, none of them… Crawdaunt is untrained, and so is Charmander. Gyarados was a boon, which I couldn't even use properly."

"And yet you managed to reach the Top-4." Cynthia pointed out. "With so many flaws, is it not a worthy feat? Last I checked, over two hundred and fifty trainers failed to reach where you stand now. I'm pretty sure a majority of them have experience equal if not more than you."

Ash didn't know what to say. Shirona was making sound arguments, but it didn't negate the fact that he had actually lost.

"I think that you should stop being so selfish."

"I am not being selfish."

"Yes, you are." Cynthia stressed. "Jeez, Ash. You mentioned so many things that you have learnt from the battles you faced here. Things you didn't know before. Use this experience to better yourself as a trainer, and develop your pokémon's abilities. You should celebrate your pokémon's success of being in the Top-4 position, but instead, you are being selfish and standing here, on the deck, standing alone by yourself."

Ash kept silent.

"They are going to call upon the Top-4 for the prize distribution in an hour, and I think you should be there. For your pokémon, if not for yourself. After all that they did for you, they at least deserve this."

Ash kept quiet. After his defeat, he had shut himself in his room for the day and the next, only caring to get his pokémon sent to the pokémon center for treatment. He had even missed the finale between Harrison and Jon Dickson, where Jon had _defeated_ Harrison in a six-on-six battle. He knew for a fact that despite his own defeat, Harrison had gotten Misty, and the two of them had tried to get Ash out of his self-imposed confinement, _multiple times_ , but without success. It was only when the party for the Champions had started, that Ash had gotten out of his room, knowing for a fact that everyone else would be downstairs in the grand hall.

That was where Shirona had dropped in on him.

"They are going to award the Top-4 in an hour's time. Clean yourself up, and get your sorry ass down there. If you don't, I swear I am going to ask my Garchomp to show you what a true Hyper Beam looks like."

"You—you have a Garchomp?"

"Yep, he's my strongest pokémon." Cynthia admitted. "Get yourself down in the Banquet Hall. I'll see you there."

With those words, Shirona spun around elegantly, before walking away, leaving a somewhat mollified Ash in her wake.

* * *

Ash stood inside his room, his hands filled with all of his pokeballs, as he stood, introspecting himself once again. Finally, he let out a sigh, as he whispered, "Come out, everyone." His entire world was inundated in a flash of red as all of his pokémon materialized in front of him. Pidgeotto soared across the room, before choosing to perch on one of Metagross's claws. Lairon had trudged to stand next to Rhydon, who was standing on the carpet. Poliwhirl had found himself a place beside Shelgon who looked at him expectedly. Charmander slowly walked up to him to rub his head against Ash's leg in appreciation, while Crawdaunt just sat with a bored expression. Ash hadn't gotten Gyarados out because he wouldn't even fit in the room.

"Well… I never really said this before, and I realize that it's been quite selfish of me to do so." Ash began. "We were able to reach the Top-4 position before I lost to Harrison, because of my mistakes and lack of experience, no matter how hard you all fought to get me to that position. Even then, I was simply considering my own failure, and didn't even consider your own efforts, and that you deserve to be congratulated for those victories." He paused. "As I said, I've been a very bad trainer."

The cacophony of grunts, gurgles and roars did their best to deliver the opinion that his pokémon thought otherwise.

 _ **You are young, as are we. We will make mistakes, learn from them, and grow strong together, human Ash.**_ Metagross's calm voice reverberated inside his head.

Ash rubbed away the little tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. "Thank you, guys. I promise to do my best not to disappoint you again."

Charmander, as a gesture of his belief, rubbed his head against his leg once again, as Shelgon, and Poliwhirl followed him. Pidgeotto soared over to perch on Ash's shoulder, while Rhydon nodded his head in Ash's direction. Metagross hummed softly from his position, giving Ash the feeling that had he been Metang, he would have settled on Ash's other shoulder. Crawdaunt, being the _cool, solitary_ crustacean that he was, simply took a single step towards Ash and stayed there. Lairon, being new to the group, simply looked at Rhydon and Ash expectantly.

* * *

 **A little while later in the Banquet Hall.**

The entire place looked nigh unrecognizable. If the welcoming night had been grand, then this one overwhelmed it by several magnitudes at least. The entire hall was populated with trainers, men in their black suits, while the female population were free to dress up in accordance to their choice. At the centre, there was an elevated platform with several microphones in position, for the party to begin.

Ash Ketchum felt immensely odd, walking all alone into the party. The previous time, Harrison had been there to accompany him, and the utter grandeur of the cruise had been too great for him to give birth to any complex emotions. However, after almost ten days of being there had changed a lot of things. He was now walking into a party, where a lot of eyes would be on him, as the second runner-up of the Clubsplosion event. He wondered for a moment where Shirona might be.

 _With her friends, perhaps._ The more rational part of his mind supplied.

"The prodigal son return at last."

Ash spun around to see Harrison and Misty walking towards him, both wine glasses in hand. Misty had been wearing a rather beautiful, red gown, one that matched with her hair, accentuating her own beauty.

"Hey Harrison, Misty." Ash replied, with a slight hesitation in his voice.

"Seriously, Ash, if I knew you'd go all dramatic upon losing, I'd have gone easier against you." Harrison joked, much to Misty's annoyance. "Sorry! Sorry!" He raised his hands in surrender. "Seriously buddy, our match could very well go the other way under different conditions. You are going to become a very powerful trainer in time."

Ash returned a soft smile.

"I didn't honestly expect you'd show up." Misty replied, frowning at Ash. "You didn't even bother replying when I beat on your door."

Ash looked sheepish. "I was being stupid."

"At least you are honest about that." Misty deadpanned.

Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, I wasn't myself."

"So what changed?" Harrison asked, taking another sip from his glass.

"Um… I was in the deck a while ago, and…" He paused, unsure of why he did. "I got to think things over."

Misty narrowed her eyes but decided to go with the flow for now. "Well, at least you have the sense to take the right choices, late or not."

"I said sorry, didn't I?"

"Just checking."

Ash scowled good-naturedly.

"Want some wine? This thing is real good." Harrison offered.

"I'm underage." Ash deadpanned.

"Your point?" Harrison countered saucily.

Ash chortled. "Yeah, I'll take one."

"Great." Harrison cheered. "Wait here. I'll get one for you." Saying so, he left Ash with Misty as he went towards the bar.

"Harrison was worried about you, you know?" Misty replied slowly. "He seemed to think that you were kind of… you know, blaming him for taking advantage of your discussing battles with him."

Ash looked a little guilty. "Well, I did, and still do think that he played dirty, but I guess I got to learn a lot from that battle. Now, I will do my best to counter the weaknesses I discovered."

"And you came to that conclusion all by yourself?" Misty accused, her eyes widened in surprise. "Boys aren't supposed to be that perceptive, you know that, right?"

Ash snorted.

"So when you are running off?" Misty asked suddenly.

Ash found himself caught off-guard by that statement, but chuckled. "I was thinking of dropping off in Mirage Island. There's this… Forest of Illusions over there. Harrison told me about it. Apparently, it's got a lot of ghost pokémon in there. I was hoping to catch one for my team."

"Dis Harrison also tell you that Mirage Island is under special guard by the Hoenn Police, because a lot of people are scared of that place?" Misty pointed out.

"Precisely the reason I'm getting off there." Ash grinned.

Misty muttered something like 'boys' under her breath. "And after that?"

"Uh…" Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Don't know for sure. Maybe stay around for a while, see the Hoenn region if I can. Worse comes to worse, I can always pay for a teleportation service and get me back to Celad0n if I run into trouble."

"Do you seriously mean that?" Misty probed. "You look like the type to run into trouble, heads-on, and then dive with two-feet into it."

Ash chortled at that. "Seriously, you need to stop talking to whoever is giving me such a bad reputation."

Misty snorted at that.

"So guys, having fun?" Harrison was back, as he handed Ash his glass of wine. "Try it."

Ash lifted an eyebrow suspiciously, before he took a sip, before almost puking it out. "The hell? What is this broth?"

Harrison looked indignant. "It's an acquired taste, something that an oblivious teenager wouldn't understand."

"This oblivious teenager is one second away from kicking your ass." Ash retorted good-naturedly.

"Stop it you guys." Misty rebuked.

The microphones chimed in, as the main host, the Deputy Champion Steven Stone took his place at the center of the stage, raising his arms outward. "Everybody having a nice evening?"

The audience cheered back, raising their glasses up to the former Hoenn Champion.

"Well, not to spoil your fun, but it is now time to introduce the winners of our Clubsplosion event, for which, I'm sure, you all are super-excited."

The crowd returned an appreciative cheer.

"Great. So, help me welcome on stage, our third runner-up for the event, Ritchie from Frodomar City, Kanto. Fantastic job, Ritchie."

Ash observed how Ritchie walked up the elevated platform, as he shook hands with Steven.

 _My turn._

"Our next, our second runner-up. Ash from Pallet Town, Kanto. A big hand."

Harrison patted his shoulder appreciatively, as Ash slowly trudged up to the platform. The audience were all cheering for him, though inwardly, Ash knew that he was far more comfortable in a battle ground, with audiences around him, than here, in a party.

"Well done, Ash." Steven smiled, as they shook hands. "Wonderful demonstration of your skill."

Ash mumbled a thanks, before Steven allowed him to stand aside.

"Our next, and runner-up, please welcome Harrison from Little Root Town, Hoenn, my own region." Steven shook Harrison's hand as he whispered something to him like he had done to Ash, before going ahead with the final name. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the event, the one person who will get a direct entry into the Top-32 of Indigo Conference due next year, is Jon from Sento Cherry Town, Johto."

Jon was a rather tall, lanky guy with brown hair, who looked to be around twenty. The elder guy shook Steven's hand, who actually looked a little smaller than Jon in height.

"And now, it is time for the finalists to get their mystery pokémon." Steven announced, as an entire table, with eight glittering ultraballs on it came levitating down from the ceiling, almost as if they had come down from the heavens themselves. "I should remind you that there are _eight_ pokémon, all of them in their final stages. On behalf of the Kanto and Hoenn League, I hope that these pokémon will be able to support you fully in your path to become powerful trainers and Masters."

Everyone clapped hard for the four finalists.

"Now, I will ask Jon to step forward and choose a single ball from the stack, and then release your mystery pokémon for everyone else to see. Will you sporting enough to do that, Jon?"

Jon gave him a pursed smile. It wasn't vivid, but Ash thought that the guy wasn't terribly happy with the idea. Jon strode forward and after few seconds of indecisiveness, chose a random ultraball from the eight, before releasing the pokémon out for everyone to see.

The red light flashed, before materializing into a large, quadrupedal wolf, with jet black fur on the back, top and legs, with silvery hairs on the rest of its body. It let out a woof, as the audience cheered.

"And Jon's mystery pokémon is a Mightyhena." Steven announced, as Jon returned the pokémon before stepping back to his place.

"Harrison's next."

Harrison strode up with confidence, as he selected a random pokeball, before smiling, and releasing it out for everyone, as a beautiful Ninetales materialised.

"Wonderful! A Ninetales. Thank you, Harrison."

 _Wow. Ninetales are truly splendid pokémon._ Ash thought inwardly.

"Ash, if you please?"

Ash strode forward, pausing slightly as he considered the remaining six balls, each of them having a mystery pokémon. After a moment of indecisiveness, he plucked the one on the extreme right, before holding it up and releasing it in front of the crowd. The red light that shot out materialized into a feline figure, one which Ash had never quite seen before, even during his study for the license. The beautiful creature was around four feet tall, with a dark blue face with a short, cat-like muzzle, a small, black, triangular nose, a scythe-like tail, and sickle-shaped growth on the right side of its head. It also has an oval marking on the top of its head. It let out a soft growl as it stared back at its future trainer, with its sharp, oddly-wise looking eyes.

"Wonderful, an Absol. That's a rare one that even I didn't expect. Nice choice, Ash."

Ash slowly held the ultraball up, his eyes never leaving the white pokémon that now belonged to him, as he recalled it back, before slowly stepping back.

"And finally, Ritchie, please come up and select your mystery pokémon." Steven welcomed, as the trainer from Frodomar city walked up confidently, his Pikachu still on his shoulder, and picked up a random pokeball, before releasing the pokémon within. The energies shifted and condensed into a short, bipedal pokémon that seemed to be made up of wood. It had a long, white, shaggy mane that covered most of its face and trailed down its back. Long pointed ears poking out the top of its mane, a long, pointed nose and a large mouth with teeth.

"A Shiftry." Steven announced. "Great choice, Ritchie."

Just as Ritchie had stepped back the four remaining pokeballs suddenly turned incorporeal and vanished from sight, much to everyone's surprise. Steven however, simply walked up to the center. "Now, I will call upon our guests to present the prizes to our Top-4 finalists." He turned towards Jon, as he beckoned him to join him at the centre. "Please welcome, our dear Ice Queen and Elite Four of Kanto, Lorelei."

An extremely enthralling lady stepped out of the other room, much to everyone's cheers. Ash could see Misty literally swooning at the woman Ash knew was the Ice Master and one of Kanto's Elite Four. Lorelei. The woman looked in her late twenties and had rich, red hair, with two pigtails and a ponytail, a pair of silvery glasses over her hazel eyes. She wore a blue jacket, a red shirt, and a black pencil skirt, a rather normal dress, but nevertheless, looking breathtakingly beautiful.

Just as Lorelei reached the centre of the stage, a single trainer belt with ten, shiny ultraballs latched onto it, aside from a single brown bag that must have contained the four full-restore packs inside it, along with a single certificate of appreciation. She handed those to Jon, before smiling and muttering something to Jon, before stepping back and moving over to join Steven.

"Now join me in welcoming Glacia, our dear Ice Mistress and part of Hoenn Elite Four." Steven announced, as a tall, slender young lady, with pale, creamy-blonde hair hanging in thick locks behind her head, bluish eyes and pale skin, walked out of the other room. Just like before, she took the suddenly appeared trainer belt with seven ultraballs, a bag of restores, a cheque and a certificate of appreciation. She handed them to Harrison, who looked pleased as ever, before Glacia stepped back to join beside Lorelei.

"Our next is the breathtakingly beautiful, brand-new Champion of Sinnoh. Please welcome the new Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia." The person who walked in next was wearing a beautiful gown of black and gold that accentuated her eyes and hair, as she gracefully walked towards the center, a soft smile on her face. She turned towards a flummoxed Ash Ketchum who was literally gaping at her, before an impish smile formed on her lips. "Nicely performed, Mr. Ketchum. Your performance was impressive."

"I- I thought your name was Shirona." Ash replied weakly. Had he noticed, he would have seen both Harrison and Misty look completely shocked.

Cynthia chuckled, as she gracefully took up the trainer belt with five ultraballs, the bag, the cheque and certificate of appreciation, before turning towards Ash. "My full name is Cynthia Shirona."

Ash opened his mouth, before closing it back, his mind gone dizzy as he tried to digest the revelations. As for Cynthia, she just smirked before joining Lorelei to her left.

"And finally, please welcome our oldest and one of most revered of Kanto's Elite, the Ghost Mistress and Kanto's Elite Four, Agatha."

The old woman that slowly trudged her way into the platform set Ash on edge. Something about the old blonde-haired woman was odd. She had been walking, with support her wooden cane, her shadow slightly darker than normal, and her eyes- one red, and one white, creating a strange juxtaposition of infirmity and controlled power at the same time. Almost subconsciously, Ash took a step back as she walked past him, before stopping in front of Ritchie. Silently, she gave away Ritchie's prize before walking back, her wooden cane tapping all the way, as her… odd shadow moved back with her.

"Now that the prize distribution is over," Steven held up a glass of wine, "let the party begin!"

* * *

Ash and Harrison had gotten back to Misty, all three of them completely outwitted and awed by the fact that they had been in the presence of a Champion all this while. Ash in particular, was completely outwitted since he had come to view Shirona as someone he could talk to, spend time with as an equal and dare he say it, someone he could call a friend. Somehow, he found it rather… conflicting to connect the image of a _Champion_ with the girl who had been on deck with him an hour ago, trying to talk sense into him, someone with whom he had spent time, had ice-cream and battled for fun. Someone on whom he had demonstrated anger, as if she were a friend and thus, in his own circle.

And Shirona had been Cynthia, the _Champion_ of Sinnoh region, all this time.

"Still angry at me?" The sudden, feminine voice shook Ash out of his reveries, as Shirona—no, Cynthia walked up to him, the impish smile still floating on her lips.

"It is an honour to meet you," Ash replied, if somewhat tersely, " _Sinnoh Champion."_

Cynthia winced. It seemed like her little trick had taken a little wrong turn. "I'm really sorry. I thought it would be funny to reveal myself to you at the party. Please don't be angry on me."

"I don't understand." Misty replied suddenly.

"What?" Cynthia and Ash asked in unison.

"You are the _Champion._ Not just anyone, but _the Champion._ Why would… you know, someone like _you,_ deign to talk, forget being friendly, with a newbie trainer?"

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "Are Champions not worthy of making friends?"

Misty coughed. "No, no, not that—I mean, he's just…"

"I'm just Ash." Ash finished for Misty, nodding at the girl. "A trainer with barely a month of experience. Why would a _champion_ even care to take interest in my profile, forget… you know… appearing friendly and everything?"

Cynthia's lips thinned. "I thought I was _being friendly,_ not merely appearing to do so."

Ash looked confused.

Cynthia let out a sigh. "I just…. Never mind. You won't understand. I guess… I saw a little of myself in you, and it attracted me, and-"

Misty coughed.

"—I mean, I found you an interesting person to talk you, and it was a good way to spend time on the ship. So, that's it, I guess."

"Oh." Ash replied, something that wiped off the smile on Cynthia's face. However, she controlled her irritation. "Anyway, come with me." She pulled Ash's hand.

"Huh, where are you taking me?" Ash asked, perplexed.

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "I did tell you that I'd introduce you to my friends, didn't I?"

Before Ash could even register that statement, he was pulled along by an excited Champion who led him all the way to Lorelei, who was currently talking to Agatha and Steven.

"Guys, this is Ash, as you might know." Cynthia introduced.

"Hello, Ash." Lorelei replied, rather bluntly. "What…. I mean, do you two know each other?"

"Ash has been a great friend to me on this cruise." Cynthia chirped, in her usual airhead-manner.

Lorelei arched an eyebrow. Steven looked mildly amused, while Agatha didn't even change an expression.

"So this is the person you've been spending time with." Lorelei realized, briefly amused at the slight blush on Cynthia's features. "Nice to meet you, Ash."

"Uh- Nice to meet you too, Elite Four Lorelei."

Lorelei chortled at his method of describing her. "Just Lorelei is fine, Ash. I must say, your performance has been an eye-turner."

"Hasn't it?" Cynthia chirped. "Who'd say that he's not even a month into training?"

Both Steven and Lorelei arched their eyebrows at that comment.

"You are the kid whom that Absol chose, aren't you?" Agatha spoke for the first time.

"Uh—yes, Ma'am."

"Agatha." The old woman countered. "Not Ma'am or Elite Four."

Ash nodded hesitantly.

"Agatha, stop worrying the poor boy." Lorelei chided good-naturedly.

Agatha however, was staring at him with an undecipherable expression on her face, making Ash feel an incredible urge to run away. Finally, she spoke up again. "Fate and Absol do not play dice with each other."

"What are you harping on, Agatha?" Steven complained jokingly. "The- Ash here was the one who chose Absol out of random."

Agatha paid his comment no mind. Her eyes were staring at Ash as if he were an incredibly interesting bug and she were a researcher of the bug-type. "I will not repeat that statement, boy." That said, she turned towards her left, but not before speaking her last words, "I believe it is time for me to desert this gathering. Lavender Town needs my presence."

Almost instantly, her cane shifted its shade to pitch black, as it morphed into a wider shape, before engulfing her and vanishing off. The entire thing happened so quickly that had Ash not paid any attention, he would have thought that the old lady had just teleported away.

"Agatha and her flair for dramatics." Lorelei sighed. "Do not mind her, Ash. She's probably thinking about seeing an Absol here. The old lady is crazy powerful, but damned superstitious as hell."

Steven chuckled at her use of expletives, but didn't choose to point it out.

"How does seeing an Absol matter?" Ash blurted out.

Cynthia chuckled. "I was wondering when that question would pop up." She looked at Ash. "Absol are _believed_ to be the cause of disasters by a whole lot of people, though some believe that they are simply the harbinger of something ominous."

For some reason, the words didn't remind Ash of his precipitous experience with the King of Ice, or the King Dragonite, but the strange psychic he had met at the power plant. He shuddered.

"Something wrong?" Steven asked, noticing the change in his expression.

"Just remembered something." Ash returned, turning to Cynthia who instantly widened her eyes, as it hit her.

"Lorelei, it's about that… oddly powerful psychic I mentioned."

 _That,_ caught Steven's attention. "Oddly powerful what?"

"A psychic. Cynthia mentioned about some odd psychic that… Ash had encountered during his travels, who had—what was it again?"

"Ash?" Steven addressed him directly. "What is this psychic you met? Can you tell me what happened?"

Ash felt slightly intimidated at Steven's direct attention on his person. Even Lorelei seemed interested in the matter, glancing from her expression. Gulping, he spoke up. "Do you, by any chance, know about the blackout that happened a day before the St. Anne left Vermillion?"

"The Commerce City power plant failure?" Steven inquired. "What of it?"

"Uh… please don't take this the wrong way," Ash pleaded, "I... kind of thought, that something… odd might be happening, and I didn't want the injured pokémon in the pokémon centers to be delayed treatment because of the blackout. So, I and my friend…" He looked back towards Harrison who seemed captivated in a discussion with Misty and a couple more trainers afar- "—my friend Harrison over there, we went to Commerce City, to the power plant to investigate the matter."

"I should warn you that as Deputy Champion, I find your actions of trespassing into national property, illegal. However, I will let that pass for now." Steven replied in a stern, no-nonsense tone.

Ash swallowed, but continued his description of the events. "I encountered a herd of magnemite and magneton who attacked me and my pokémon. My… rhyhorn almost got killed in the process, but he evolved into a Rhydon, and that saved his life. I also… uh… might have caught the Magneton after he was defeated."

"That's strange. Magnemite and Magneton that are employed at the Power plant are rather docile." Steven frowned.

Ash wondered what part of being docile involved being a murderous electric-type, but suppressed the thought. "We, that is me and my pokémon, encountered Team Rocket, with a pack of Umbreon on them, on the… uh, second floor."

"What?" Lorelei and Steven literally shouted in unison.

"Uh… what's this Team Rocket?" Cynthia asked, unaware of the existence of the organization. A single glance from Lorelei was enough for the Sinnoh Champion to drop the issue.

"Where have you encountered Team Rocket before?" Lorelei questioned, as Steven released a pokémon, Ash realized in surprise, a Metagross-whose eyes glowed with an ethereal blue, as a psychic barrier formed all around themselves, making their discussion not only private, but also ignored by everyone else.

"We can talk in complete privacy here." Steven urged. "Go on."

"I was captured by those Rocket people on my way from Mount Moon to Cerulean City, near those mountain tunnels." Ash paused. "There was this woman, who called herself Executive Ariana."

"And you escaped her? Alive?" Lorelei gasped in surprise. Clearly the boy's performance at the tournament was no fluke.

"I uh, had help." Ash answered bluntly.

"Get to the power plant. What happened then?" Steven urged.

Ash nodded. "My pokémon and I defeated the Umbreon and the Rocket grunts, and we, uhm, found a single lobby where the entire population of workers were lying on the floor. They were um… in a coma-like state, preserved through psychic powers."

"Did you break that?" Lorelei asked. "You have a Metagross with you."

"Metang back then." Ash clarified. "Metang did try it. But the moment he stopped actively pushing his power, the psychic coma would reactivate again."

"How powerful can a psychic be, to do that? Have a continuous level of control, and that too passively?" Cynthia wondered.

Ash looked away, not really wanting to answer that question. "Not succeeding in our attempts to wake them up, we crossed the tunnel that led to the second tower, the one with the management lobby, and there…." He paused, "we met a strange, hooded man—a psychic with his hands inside a brightly lit thing."

"A brightly lit thing?" Steven repeated in confusion.

"Right. I knew I was forgetting something." Ash hit his forehead. "When we got to the turbines, we saw that the turbines were working perfectly, but all that power was being channelled to the central tower," he paused, "the one place where the psychic was standing. I think, into that brightly lit device."

"A reservoir, or a conduit to channel that power, I presume." Lorelei theorized. "But it is impossible for anyone to eat up that much power. An electivire would fry out in a minute under a fraction of that much energy."

Ash shrugged. "I cannot say for sure. It's just what that psychic told us, that he was hungry, and feeding of that power."

"You talked to the psychic?" Steven's eyes sparkled with interest. "How did it look like?"

"Can't say." Ash denied. "He was wearing a full-sleeved jacket and a hood. I tried to stop him, and he tossed Rhydon away like tissue paper, before stopping a Skarmory that a… friend of mine had. He even stopped two powerful hyper beams and then threw them back in an explosion."

Steven looked strangely… Was that _fear_ on his face?

"What… else can you tell me?" he replied in a strangely, broken voice.

"He…" Ash paused, closing his eyes, as he recited the words the stranger had spoken to him. _"In time…"_ Ash spoke in an oddly calm voice. _"You will know what it is like to lose. To feel so desperately that you are right, yet to fail, all the same."_

After a moment of ominous silence, Ash opened his eyes.

"He's telling the truth." Steven replied with a sigh, his entire expression one of resignation. "Ash encountered the _armoured pokémon_ in Commerce City, who stole an entire day's of power, enough to power half of Kanto, with no one knowing any better."

Lorelei gasped.

"Armoured pokémon?" Ash repeated.

Steven however, had other plans in mind. "Uh… Ash, I need you to come with me for a moment. Lorelei, Cynthia… I'll talk to you later. Come with me, Ash."

Ash gave a look to Cynthia who nodded back, her own face scrunched up in confusion, as he was led away by the former Hoenn Champion towards a different part of the Banquet Hall, the Metagross following swiftly behind them.

* * *

Steven dragged Ash all the way towards one corner of the Banquet Hall, where Ash could see, even from his vantage point, a group of elderly gentlemen talking among themselves. As he got closer, he could almost realize the facial structure of the man closest to him, with his white hairs and spectacles and-

 _Is that-?_

Before Ash could even finish the thought, Steven had dragged him to the group, as he spoke up. "Dad, Uncle, this is-"

"Ash?" Just as Ash had formulated the name in his mind, Derrick looked at him in surprise. "Right of course, I knew that the boy with the black hair looked so familiar. Sorry kid, looks like my age is catching up faster than usual."

Steven blinked. Then blinked again. "You… know each other?"

"Of course." Derrick laughed. "The kid helped me out a lot back in… you-know-where. I even got him one of our… well, you-know-what I am talking about. For the record, how's Metang?"

Steven widened his eyes. His uncle got Ash to the _Metagross hive?_ _Why?_ Was there where Ash found his Metang?

"You are…." Ash began.

"Derrick Stone, Steven's uncle." Derrick introduced himself fully, with another laugh.

"Uh… uncle, Dad, I need to talk about something, _extremely private._ "

The other man, whom Steven was referring to as Dad, a short, portly man with white hairs, and dressed in a business suit, sent a calm glance towards Ash. "I assume he will be joining us?"

"It's… peculiar, but yes."

The man nodded. "Very well."

* * *

Ash Ketchum found him sitting in an ornately-decorated room, with a couple of couches in the centre, upon one of which, he was currently sitting, wondering what he was doing at that moment. Beside him, Steven was explaining to his father, Mr. Joseph Stone, head of Devon Corp., and his uncle, Derrick Stone, famous researcher and archaeologist.

"And that's what—happened, as far as what Ash told me, and Metagross verified it as the absolute truth. Ash isn't… fibbing." Steven finished his short and succinct explanation.

"This… is certainly troubling." Mr. Stone muttered, turning towards his elder brother. "What do you think, Derrick?"

Derrick on the other hand, was sharply staring at Ash, who was finding it quite… uncomfortable. "It is… certainly plausible that this… armoured pokémon has been working in coalition with Team Rocket. However, I _do not,_ see someone with powers alike a Legendary to work side by side with them, or having such… sinister purposes."

 _That Articuno certainly had no troubles in deciding to kill us._ Ash couldn't help but scoff inwardly.

"My boy…" Derrick suddenly replied, "The ways of the Legendaries are beyond human comprehension. Whatever they do, it is all for a specific reason. We may not know _why_ that very instant, but in hindsight, everything becomes clear."

Steven crunched his face at the odd comment, though Ash simply widened his eyes. He hadn't known that Derrick Stone was a psychic as well, or that he could read minds with such ease.

"What are you talking about? Do you think that this… armoured pokémon is a Legendary?" Steven prompted.

"A Legendary, no. On par with a Legendary, perhaps. This psychic is… stronger, several times more than Metagross, but Legendary? I do not know. Then again… it didn't seem like the psychic was exerting himself in any shape or form."

"That… creature had an entire complex under its passive control, said control being too great for an average psychic to even break, and then it played with so many powerful pokémon. Are you still saying that-?" Mr. Stone questioned with disbelief.

"That it wasn't using his full power? Yes. That its power is at par with Legendaries themselves? Perhaps. That is a Legendary? Not really."

Both Steven and Mr. Stone fell silent at that comment.

"Ash, can you please release Metang for a moment?" Derrick finally replied.

Without needing any further prompting, Ash unlocked his pokeball and released Metagross, who hummed quietly, speaking to Ash in his mind.

 _ **What is it, human Ash?**_

 _Derrick… you remember Derrick right? He wants to talk to you._

Metagross turned towards Derrick, as he recognized the man…. _**"Old Keeper."**_

Derrick smiled, as he unleashed his own Metagross, the phantasmal steel-behemoth appearing before him, as it gave Metagross a gaze, before turning to Ash.

 _ **You have been touched by the fallen dragon king's presence. His shade lies upon you, just like the legendary king of ice. I knew you would be interesting, human-ling.**_ The ancient Metagross spoke in Ash's mind.

 _ **Of course he is. He is my trainer.**_ Ash's Metagross put his two cents in.

 _ **You still have much to learn, young one.**_ The ancient one chided.

"Both of you seem to be getting along famously!" Derrick clapped his hands, staring at the two Metagross with affection. He turned to Ash. "You certainly live an interesting life. Even I cannot say to have gone through so much in so less time. I hope you realize how _significant_ that is. An encounter with a legendary is _always_ a work of Fate."

"Hold on!" Steven yelled, standing up. "Ash has encountered a Legendary?" He glanced at Ash, his expression one of absolute shock. "When?"

"In Mount Moon." It was Derrick who answered. "He and his Bagon were rather helpful. Speaking of which, has he evolved?"

"He's a Shelgon now." Ash answered helpfully, much to Steven's consternation.

"Stop changing the topic you two." The former Champion yelled, completely uncharacteristic of his… charismatic outlook while at the party.

"He also met a… _Am I allowed_ to speak of it, Ash?" Derrick asked, raising an eyebrow.

Somehow, Ash knew that Derrick was referring to the incident with King Dragonite. How he knew that, he didn't know, but supposed that it might be because of the ancient Metagross, sine the knowledge was sealed deep within. Then again, this was Derrick.

"You suppose correctly, and before you ask, I should inform you. You didn't reveal it. Metagross took it from your mind. You will _not_ have to pay any penalty for that."

Ash sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"Explaining what's going on any time soon would be good." Steven glared.

"I'll do you one better." Derrick smiled, before turning to Metagross. "If you please?"

Metagross's eyes glowed blue, and suddenly, the entire room vanished, and they were all standing on the terrace of a lighthouse, beside another Ash Ketchum, and beside him, a researcher they all recognized as Bill Montgomery.

"You know _Bill Montgomery_ as well?" Steven asked, somewhat sarcastically.

 _This is… a memory._ Ash realized. He was… inside a memory. His own memory, and looking at himself. It was mind-boggling.

"Look there?" Derrick pointed out. For some reason, they were unable to hear any sounds, something Ash felt slightly grateful for. Bill had asked him to keep the _true name_ of the King Dragonite an absolute secret. Steven might be the Deputy Champion, but Ash wasn't comfortable enough to share a secret of that magnitude with him.

The three men literally drew their breaths in absolute awe, staring at the mythical behemoth in front of him, a Dragonite that could very well, be the tallest possible pokémon they had ever seen.

 _The last of the fallen dragon kings._

"Lance would give away a leg and an arm just to behold that sight." Steven finally replied, as the memory faded away, leaving Ash and the Stones back in the room. He turned to Ash. "I thank you for showing me that memory." He nodded gracefully towards Ash, who felt extremely awkward.

"Uh… it's no big deal." Ash muttered.

"Guess the fact that Ash chose an Absol out of the mystery pokémon doesn't even compare before all this."

"WHAT?" Derrick yelled, so loudly that both Ash and Steven had to cringe.

* * *

 **Meanwhile on the deck.**

"Seriously, I don't really understand the need of this-" Cynthia tried, but Harrison would not, it seemed, accept a no from her.

With Ash deserting her for Steven (she knew it happened differently, but couldn't help but look at it that way), and Lorelei having to attend to the other invitees who had bombarded her with questions regarding the League, Cynthia had retreated back to Misty and Harrison, her _rings_ active and in full effect.

That was when Harrison had asked her for a favour. A rather… odd favour.

"The entire population is inside the Banquet hall. After your... grand introduction, there's no chance that I'd ever get a chance to hold a private battle against someone like you. Please, _please,_ accept my challenge?" Harrison pleaded once again, as the two stood on the empty deck.

"Uh… okay." Cynthia muttered, feeling slightly embarrassed at the way Harrison was pleading with her. "One on one, is that enough?"

"Very." Harrison smiled. "The platform over there then?"

Cynthia shrugged. "It is your challenge."

Harrison nodded as the two walked towards the elevated platform that had served as the battleground for the finals, earlier in the morning. Standing on the blue platform, he glanced at the Sinnoh Champion who stood on the red one. "This is an unofficial challenge against the Sinnoh Champion for a one-on-one battle."

Cynthia's lips twisted in amusement, as she released her pokémon. "Go, _Garchomp_!"

The bipedal shark-like pokémon that materialized in front of them had a mix of red and blue colorations all over, with two horn-like appendages and a star-like yellow mark on its snout. Its arms had one claw each, and triangular fins emerging from its elbows and back.

"The nigh legendary Garchomp!" Harrison whispered. He had heard about the new Sinnoh Champion and her _undefeatable_ Garchomp, though had never ever even considered that _Shirona_ would be _the Cynthia Shirona._

"Go, Arcanine!" He chose his own pokémon. "Let the battle begin!"

* * *

 **Back in the Hall.**

"Uh… Steven?" Ash asked cautiously, wondering how to address the Deputy Champion.

Steven, it seemed, didn't mind him calling by that name. "Yes?"

"Why… uh… are the guests going away?"

It was a valid question. At the end of the discussion, the three Stones had a private discussion for a couple of minutes, after which the senior Stones teleported away with Derrick's Alakazam. Steven also made a couple of calls to the League to deploy several dozen Kadabra and Alakazam and prepare for emergency deployment procedure.

"My uncle," Steven let out a sigh, the sudden tension getting to him, "my uncle seems to agree with Agatha's… ominous words about your Absol. Choice or not, an _Absol_ did appear before you, before all of us here, without any of us knowing of her ascent beforehand."

"But… you are the Deputy Champion. Surely you would-"

"I didn't." Steven admitted. "The eight mystery pokémon were taken from the Hoenn Reserves and the Fuchsia Safari, four from each. Only the Rangers know which pokémon was chosen. As organizer, I only knew that the pokémon _consented_ to be awarded to strong trainers who would train them to be even more powerful and skilled than they already are."

"I… I don't understand." Ash repeated in confusion. "What is so bloody—I mean, why is me choosing Absol such a big affair?"

Steven pinched his nose. Truth be told, he had never really given much importance to Absol or its relation with disasters, citing them as mere coincidences, since Absol were generally found in earthquake-prone regions. It was quite possible that Absol were able to feel the seismic waves rolling off, faster than the others, and hence, were able to know when an earthquake-related disaster was about to happen.

Now though…

"If Agatha and my uncle's theories are to be believed, and just between you and me, I put a great deal of faith on my uncle's theories than the former, since Derrick Stone has _never_ been wrong when it comes to his premonitions. Even Sabrina admits that her own skill- whatever, the point is, _no one, except Absol,_ knew that it would show up at today's event, like the way it did. And according to folklore, whenever an Absol appears like that at a place, it is a catastrophic omen."

"I'm sorry, I should've just-" Ash began to mumble.

"Aren't you fucking listening?" Steven literally yelled, a good thing that they were in private. " _No one_ knew about Absol's presence. _Not you, not me, not the organizers, not the audience. No one."_

"The rangers did." Ash pointed out.

"That's beside the point." Steven waved it away. "Eight pokémon were selected, and even then, the Ranger Squad _didn't know_ that the pokémon were to be given to the winners of the Clubsplosion event, here on St. Anne. And yet, an _Absol consented_ to be sent to the event, and then was released in front of the crowd."

"You are saying that Absol _chose_ to be a part of the group of eight because it _knew_ it would be chosen, and thus, predict some catastrophe that would come soon?" Ash countered with incredulity.

Agatha's ominous words suddenly resurfaced in his mind. _**Fate and Absol do not play dice with each other.**_

Bottom line. An Absol had appeared on the ship, in the Banquet Hall, chosen by Ash Ketchum. And that translated- a disaster of catastrophic proportions was about to happen.

 _Just my luck._ Ash cursed. "What are… we doing about this?"

" _You,_ aren't doing anything." Steven shot back. "While I'm thankful to the Gods up there, that even by mere coincidence, Cynthia introduced us, and you spoke about the psychic and everything, but this is something that falls under mine and the Elite Four line of work." He paused. "Though, it would be better if you get your friends to subtly make sure that they have their things packed up and collected in case some… anathema happens."

Ash widened his eyes. "You mean…"

"I'd thank you not to speak out any ominous ideas about the supposed catastrophe that might occur. On second thought, keep your pokémon ready. I've noticed you have quite the team on you."

"Uh… thanks." Ash mumbled.

Steven waved it away. "Also, I think…" He took out a single card-like object from his pocket, which enlarged into a little suitcase. From the inside, he pulled out a watch-like thing and handed it to Ash. "Take it."

"What… is this?" Ash wondered.

"This is a Pokenav," Steven explained. "It is used to communicate with people who have a similar one on them, without having to resort to using PC Consoles. They are quite expensive, so I'd say that you take good care of that thing."

"Uh... thanks, but… why are you giving this to me?"

Steven sighed. "Look kid, you seem to get involved in matters that fall under Elite Four scrutiny a lot, especially with your past experiences with… you-know-what's. I guess, it is for the betterment, of both yourself and us, that you remain in contact, especially now that you are in direct communication with the Sinnoh Champion and Devon Corp. and, for the record, what _exactly_ is your relation to Montgomery again?"

"Bill—I mean, Mr. Montgomery is like a friend to me, and um… he registered me as a freelance researcher working for Mr. Montgomery."

"Impressive." Steven arched an eyebrow. "You sure have a knack of knowing people in the higher ups."

"I ask myself the reason for that every day." Ash mumbled to himself, much to the former Champion's amusement.

"Anyway, you will find mine and uncle's number registered inside the Pokenav. I personally gifted Cynthia with one, so I guess the two can exchange information later on, considering how chummy she seems to be with you."

Ash flushed at that remark.

"Just teasing," Steven chuckled, as he took out a tiny device from his jacket and checked in Ash's credentials. "Damn. You're right, kid. Freelance researcher to Silph Co. and reporting to Bill Montgomery, and roster limit updated to…." Steven looked up. "Nah Ash, you better not lose my contact number. Something tells me we will be meeting soon again, somewhere."

"Of course." Ash replied, a little too quickly.

"You should join your friends and… do what I advised. I… need to go and contact Lance."

"Sure."

* * *

Ash found himself strolling around the Hall, somehow feeling distant from the people talking cheerfully all around him. Little did these… people know, what had just conspired, and what was, hypothetically, about to happen.

He cursed himself once again for his stupid luck. Had he not chosen that particular ultraball, a different pokémon would have come out.

 _Would it?_ The more cynical part of his mind commented. _Agatha certainly thinks differently, as do the others. You were meant to choose Absol. You were meant to be here, on St. Anne, get into the Top-4, befriend Cynthia, meet the Elite Four, and talk to Steven about the Psychic._

 _Was I?_ Ash wondered. Could it simply be a string of coincidences once again? What were the chances that a _Champion_ would become his friend, that he would go ahead to become the second runner-up, that said Champion would also coerce to bring him to the Hall to accept the prize, and that he would choose an Absol of all pokémon from the group? Cynthia took him forcefully to meet the Elite, and just by happenstance, Agatha had to comment like that, and Ash just _coincidentally_ thought of the Psychic, and got noticed by Lorelei. Then, Derrick's presence, and all that followed.

 _Could it all be just a chain of coincidences?_

"Hey Ash!" Misty's voice broke him out of his reveries.

"Yeah?" He asked, slightly off-guard.

"What's with you being so absentminded today?" Misty chided.

"Nothing… nothing really." Ash lied. "Where's Harrison?"

"There, sulking in the corner." Misty rolled her eyes. "The fool had the grand idea of challenging Cynthia to a battle."

"He what?" Ash countered, a little louder than he expected.

Misty cringed at his louder tone. "He challenged Cynthia to a one-on-one battle on the deck, saying it was his only chance for a private battle and all that." She waved her hands animatedly. "Poor fool's Arcanine didn't stand a chance against her Garchomp."

Ash rolled his eyes. That was a given. Harrison was strong, yes, but nowhere close to Elite level, and Cynthia was a goddamned champion. In hindsight, he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had he continued battling her Buizel with his Charmander.

"And now you are lost again." Misty sighed, at Ash's introspective expression.

"Ehehehe!" Ash rubbed the back of his head absently. "I'll… go and see what's wrong with him then. Maybe offer a few words of advice?"

"You do that." Misty frowned. "I'll just have another drink." Saying so, she left for the bar.

 _Damn. I forgot to tell her about packing stuff._ Ash raised his hand, but then decided to attend to Harrison first, who was sulking in a corner, while Cynthia, he observed, was talking animatedly to a few guests.

"Harrison," he walked towards the brown-haired trainer, "hey Harrison."

"Yeah?" Harrison returned, his expression sour.

"I heard you were sulking in the corner." Ash chuckled. It was almost ironic, considering what he had done over the last two days.

"Well, her Garchomp completely demolished Arcanine and put him down like yesterday's trash."

Ash winced. Cynthia must have thrown her experience full-force on Paul. Then again, this was the Champion they were talking about.

"Well, she is the Champion." Ash tried.

"Yeah, you have a point." Harrison receded. "Hey Ash, can I ask you for a favour?"

"Sure."

"My Arcanine is in pretty pathetic condition right now, and the Pokémon center is closed for the night. I was wondering if you… you know, send Arcanine to Professor Oak's coral for treatment using your… device."

"Oh." Ash muttered. "Let me contact Professor Oak and ask him, okay?"

"Sure".

* * *

A while later, Ash found himself standing with Cynthia, Harrison and Misty on the deck, the other three having confused and somewhat tensed expressions on their faces.

"So… Steven believes that the cruise is actually having a chance to end up in an accident or sorts or something?" Cynthia asked.

"I'm not sure, but he did make sure that the VVIP's all teleported away as soon as possible, and has called in for teleportation deployment from the League." Ash answered, keeping his voice low. "He also told me to make sure all my stuff is gathered and ready, in case something happens."

"I should probably get the same done." Misty added.

"But all of this… just because of an Absol being spotted. I mean, isn't this a little too much overreaction?" Harrison asked, a little sceptical about the entire thing.

"Might be, but it helps to be prepared." Cynthia countered. "If the former Hoenn Champion deems it important enough to address the situation so firmly, then you might as well join in."

Harrison nodded, though it was clear he still had reservations on the subject.

"We should meet down there in the Hall once we are done, just in case." Cynthia replied, as the others agreed to that instantly. "As Champion, it is my duty to make sure everyone on this ship remains safe."

"We'll help." Ash offered, joined by the other two trainers.

"Thanks, see you downstairs in a while." The Sinnoh Champion nodded, before leaving for her room, Misty following swiftly behind.

"We should do the same as well," Harrison offered, "you did send Arcanine away, right?"

Ash nodded in agreement.

"Good. I don't want him in this…fiasco, whatever might happen. And Ash, should something ominous really happen, don't make stupid mistakes and don't hold back."

Ash stared at his friend for a couple of seconds, before nodding. "Let's go."

* * *

 **Meanwhile in the deep interiors of the ship's administrative segment.**

Mr. Gibbs had been the serving as the St. Anne's captain for the last eleven years, and before that, he had served as the Head of the Engineering Department Crew for over twenty years. Thus, he knew more about the Anne than any other person on the ship. Aged more than fifty, the man was always guarded by two Haunter on either side, knowing very well how _easy_ it would be for a malicious _psychic_ to implant some… suggestions in his mind, causing him to lead the ship astray into enemy territory, or even worse, cause a shipwreck. Ever since he had become the captain, Gibbs had incremented the cruise's defense mechanisms by several fold, making it literally a fortress on water to anyone trying to lay siege on it. The St. Anne had a dozen Wailord kept inside pokeballs inside the Captain's chamber, besides having a collection of several other ghost, psychic, and dark pokémon placed in reserve in the deepest interiors in case they were needed. He had also made it mandatory for the sailors to have at least one single flying-type, most of which were Wingull, Fearow, Pidgeotto, and the rare Pidgeot, in addition to having water-types at hand. Gibbs personally, believed in having two Gyarados in his own collection, knowing very well how advantageous it was.

Thus, it was quite understandable that seeing the cruise ship being surrounded by a dozen submarines on all sides, all of them within two hundred metres from the cruise ship, surrounding it like a pack of Sharpedo, when barely a moment ago, everything had been _clear_ on the SONAR.

Gibbs cursed. Getting up from his seat, he switched on the alert button and blared into the megaphone. "Attention, passengers! This is an Emergency! I am the ships' Captain and this is an Emergency! Repeat, this is an Emergency!" Gibbs clicked on several other buttons, letting know the ships' defense team to rise up to the deck. "We are under attack. Repeat, we are under attack. Please get your stuff, and be prepared for exit."

And all hell broke loose.

* * *

 **An: The madness finally begins. Next Chapter, the ending of the St. Anne arc, with a twist I dare say you would not expect. A shout-out to all those readers who suggested those mystery pokémon. I hope you like the ones I chose. Also, holy shit! 100k+ words in less than a month. I just broke my record for 'Defiance'. Believe it or not, I actually start writing a chapter after I publish the previous one, so this month's been all kinds of crazy, what with pumping 9k words everyday.**

 **Constructive reviews and suggestions are very much appreciated.**


	13. Clash of the Titans

**Seven miles from the coast of Whirl Islands.**

"What do you mean that the cruise is surrounded by- I thought we had SONAR systems up and active to several kilometres in every distance?" Lance thundered into the Pokenav. "How the hell could this even happen?"

"We do not know sir." The voice over the phone answered. "The SONAR had been working with cent percent precision. It was almost like the submarines just…"

"Just what, sailor?" Lance yelled.

"Teleported." The man said, his voice weary and trembling.

"That is not possible." Lance denied the argument. "Are you seriously suggesting that some psychic just teleported a dozen submarines at exactly two hundred metre radius from the St. Anne, from a distance of at least several kilometres away, while the St. Anne was in motion?"

Silence prevailed for a while before the answer came. "….Yes."

"Damn it. Get the protections active and functional. I'm sending support." Lance hit the button and cancelled the call.

This was not supposed to happen. Ever since the cruise ship set sail, Lance and his team of Ace Trainers had maintained a constant eye on the cruise, following them all the way from Vermillion. Ace Trainers were always there before the cruise reached a city, and stayed back after the cruise left it. Lance himself had been monitoring the entire movement with the precision of a well-trained Pidgeotto from Day One.

"Send the emergency deployment squad number 17 to the ship. We need evacuation as fast as possible." He dictated.

"Sir, the Anne has its own defenses managed by sailors. With Elite Four and Steven being there, isn't it… too much overreaction for us to deploy number 17?" One of the higher administrative officers asked.

"If what I fear is correct, then even number 17 wouldn't be enough to get us out of this mess." Lance muttered, more to himself than to the officer. "Get me Steven on the phone."

"Connecting, sir."

Silence.

"Sir, Steven is on the call."

"Connect me to him." Lance ordered absently, staring at the screen in frustration, as a single BEEP followed his order, as the connection was set up. "Steven, any updates?"

"We are getting the passengers get their stuff while the defences are raised. The guests have already left, and now only the trainers and the cruise staff are left."

"Well that's good a start as any." Lance muttered. "Any developments on how this was made possible?"

Steven's voice seemed to crack. "Lance, hear me out first, but we have reasons to believe that the armoured pokémon is involved in the situation, and we- I have Intel that it is in league with Team Rocket."

Lance felt his knuckles turn white.

"Lance?"

"…."

"Lance, do you copy?"

Lance controlled himself. "Do what you can. Reinforcements arrive in fifteen minutes."

"Got it."

"And Steven….?"

"…." Steven waited for the next part.

"Good luck."

"Thanks. You too."

* * *

 **Back on the ship.**

It was unrecognizable. An hour ago, the deck was peaceful and empty, while the majority where inside the Banquet Hall, enjoying the party within. With the sudden blaring of the emergency signals, everyone had panicked, and would have caused further commotion if not for the super-powered psychic blast from Steven's Metagross that literally _stopped_ everyone in mid-air.

Steven Stone stood on the elevated platform, his charismatic party-self replaced by the cold, calculating bastard who had once reigned over the Throne of Hoenn. "I'll say this one time." He replied in a slow, but no less stern voice. "The cruise is under attack by some malicious forces, but there is nothing to worry. The St. Anne is well-prepared for defending against such attacks, and you have me, former Hoenn Champion and current Deputy Champion, alongside the current Sinnoh Champion and members of Kanto and Hoenn Elite Four. The guests have already been deported to safety, and soon the same will be true for everyone else. Now, as I see now, I see over two hundred and fifty _strong_ trainers with powerful pokémon in front of me." He paused. "Is there anyone in the audience who thinks that these… terrorists, whoever they may be, stand a chance when two hundred and fifty trainers and the Elite are standing together to face them? Answer me?"

Not a single person made a noise.

"Now I am going to let you all off the psychic traps." Steven explained slowly, as if talking to an incredibly slow child. "As I mentioned, the cruise is well-defended. All we want, is for _you,_ to get back to your rooms, pack your bags, and return back here in the Banquet Hall. As the Deputy Champion, can I expect this much from the future trainers and Masters of all regions?"

Ash had to give it to him. Steven Stone had a way with words. In less than a few seconds, Metagross let go off his psychic power, as the people slowly walked out of the Banquet Hall, towards their respective rooms. Even from inside the hall, the sounds of people still panicking were audible.

"Well, that was the best we could expect, I guess." Steven murmured, glancing at Ash who was standing with Metagross floating beside him. Harrison similarly, was ready with his Houndoom, Misty with her Kingdra and Cynthia, as expected, with her formidable Garchomp.

"I might have won the Champion's position but I still have much to learn." Cynthia mumbled, as she watched Lorelei talk to some of the naval officers about the defenses of the cruise.

"Ash, Harrison, can I expect you to fight?" Steven asked.

"You need to ask?" Ash retorted with slight anger. Harrison simply nodded.

Steven activated his now-ringing Pokenav. "Lance is calling. Can I expect you guys to handle it while I make the call?"

"Sure." Cynthia nodded in agreement.

Making good use of his time, Ash made sure that all of his pokeballs were fastened into his belt. He would need all of them, should the matter really go that bad. He simply hoped that he wouldn't be facing the psychic this time.

Within the next fifteen minutes, many of the trainers had been back. By the look of it, it was clear that most of them hadn't bothered with their stuff, merely put everything they got close into their trainer bags, put their belts and raced back to the Hall. Some of them even had their pokémon out.

Cynthia took a step forward. "If you have water-types or flying-types at hand, get them ready. Worse comes to worse, get yourself on your pokémon and get out of here. Those who do not have water-types or flying-types, join groups with those who do. If it falls short, do not worry." She cleared her throat. "As I said, do not worry. We have water-transport available in case it is needed. Those who wish to battle against these terrorists, please step forward, and follow my command."

Several dozen people stepped forward. Ash could see many familiar faces in them. Meanwhile, Steven gad returned back to the Hall. "I just had confirmation from Champion Lance. Ace Trainers and the Champion himself are arriving any time now." He paused, looking at the front row of trainers, with their pokémon ready for battle.

"We have a teleportation deployment service going on with twenty Alakazam in action." Steven turned towards Harrison and Misty. "Can I trust the two of you to make sure that the evacuation goes on without a hitch?"

"We'll try our best." Misty croaked.

Harrison nodded again. "Don't worry."

"Very well." Steven turned towards the crowd. "The teleportation service will transport twenty people every two minutes to the nearest city. Please follow- Harrison and-"

"Misty!" Misty shouted her name out.

"Misty to the evacuation points. This is for those who cannot help us fight the terrorist, that is." Steven finished.

Personally, Ash thought it to be terribly cunning. By calling in to the bravado of the trainers, Steven made the _evacuation_ look like _cowardice,_ and nobody wanted to look like a coward. It would really help matters much, but at least, it would decrease the tension over the evacuation.

"We need a group of people on the deck with me and my group. The rest of you need to stay here with Lorelei and Glacia. The ship staff will handle the rest. Is that clear?"

The crowd answered in a cacophony of voices.

"Ash, Cynthia. We need to get the other passengers who are still in their rooms to safety. Can I trust you on that?"

Ash nodded. Cynthia looked ready for battle, her Garchomp growling.

"Get on it." Steven commanded, as Ash and Cynthia instantly left the Hall from the other doors.

"The psychic defenses are raised on all sides already. While the ship is moving, it will be difficult for them to get on board." Lorelei observed.

Almost as if in answer to her statement, the entire ship hit a halt, the sheer inertia making everyone drop to the floor, save the occasionally floating psychic type.

"I guess the ship isn't moving anymore." Lorelei deadpanned.

* * *

 **On the deck.**

Several steel ropes with piercing heads punched through the metal body of the cruise from all sides, holding the humongous cruise ship in place like a captive held by ropes to prevent it from fleeing. More than a dozen submarines floated up on all sides, before stationing themselves to a fixed distance from the cruise, as dozens of Umbreon, Magnemite, Goldbat and Weezing flooded the cruise's deck, protected from the incoming attacks of the sailors' pokémon via psychic shields created by Alakazam standing on the turbines.

In a matter of seconds, the deck was swarming with Team Rocket grunts, who had knocked down several sailors from their positions, taking the deck of the cruise under their control. Someone detonated an explosion on the top, as the entire set of stairs leading to the Banquet Hall exploded into smithereens, trapping the passengers inside the Hall, with no option of getting outside, except to break through the ship walls, all the while having the risk of suffering fire from the Rockets' pokémon.

One of the Rockets stood at the front of the broken staircase, and lifted his hood. "Attention, my dear friends. This is Team Rocket Executive Proton, speaking." His voice was getting amplified by the Crowbat flying in front of him. "In exactly five minutes, this entire ship will be blown to bits. Those of you planning on resisting us from taking away your pokémon and valuables, kindly avoid doing so. I'm sure your friends and family wouldn't want your mangled remains to float in the sea."

Silence pervaded for the next couple of seconds. Despite the refined cruelty and deceptively smooth tone, there was no doubt that he wasn't kidding.

"As of right now, I have twenty five hyper beams locked on to the Banquet Hall, where I am assured that you all are hiding. Imagine what might happen should I order the beams to fire all together."

Proton laughed. A cold, cruel laugh.

"And then launch the attack all over again on-"

The rest of his words were punctured by a resonating blast of white light from deep beneath the broken staircase, literally _evaporating_ two Rocket grunts standing there, and almost including Proton had he not instantly leapt to the right, avoiding the beam, which hit his Crowbat in the face, hurling it all the way to the ocean, before it fell into the calm waters.

The Crowbat never rose up again that night.

From the newly created zone, Steven Stone walked out, his Metagross behind him, a psychic shield fluttering in his front, as he stared at the Team Rocket Executive on the floor. "You were saying?"

Proton snarled. "Attack!"

Steven smirked. "Flash! Full power!"

And the world got enveloped in blinding white light.

* * *

The sea was in turmoil. Despite the complete calmness in which they were all sailing during this while, the sea had suddenly taken a dangerous turn, as angry waves lashed against the cruise from all sides, as if the waters were themselves angry at the cruise being stationary instead of in motion, causing further turbulence inside the ship. Rain and loud thunder joined in as well, as Ash and Cynthia, both wet in the rain, climbed out of one of the side-windows, and jumped down onto the main deck from a side, hoping to avoid any altercation with the rocket grunts.

"This way, the other one might have Rocket members," Ash suggested, as he looked up, and found two pairs of sharp jaws rushing towards his face, before a dragon pulse shot past his left ear, slamming into-a Goldbat, Ash realized—as the creature flattened onto the floor, incapacitated with a single stroke from Cynthia's Garchomp.

"You were saying?" Cynthia asked, an impish smile on her lips.

"That way." Ash replied without hesitation.

The duo dashed through the rain, with Garchomp and Metagross flying above them, as they entered into the basement that led to the second floor where the residential quarters were. A single disable from Metagross made one of the grunts fall off from his position up on the roof, while Garchomp swept another off by a sharp kick.

The area inside was brimming with Rocket agents, with the trainers being held hostage, and being forced to give away their pokeballs or be killed.

"We have a hostage situation here." Cynthia whispered, pulling Ash behind, as the two slid into the extremely narrow zone between the two corridors. "I'll get in from the front, you go around to get them from the other end of the wing. Can you do that?"

"But what about leaving you-"

"I am a Champion. I can handle some grunts, Ash." Cynthia retorted back, still in whispers. "Now, can I do what I asked or not?"

"…. Sure."

"Kay." Cynthia took a deep breath, turning to face the corridor just next to her, as Garchomp dropped to her side.

"Take Metagross with you. A disable attack will be safer considering the hostages."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, turning back. "You are giving up your most versatile-?"

But Ash had already sprinted past her to the other end.

"Damn you, Ash." Cynthia whispered, turning towards the steel behemoth. "Go in, use disable at full power. Garchomp, I need you take down whoever standing, especially ghost or dark types, and get the hostages out. Is that clear?"

Garchomp growled in agreement, as Metagross used a full-powered Meteor mash to smash through the doors, entering into the main lobby.

The moment he smashed in, a succession of shadow balls shot out from the Umbreon pack standing guard inside, but before they could hit him, Garchomp flew in, deflecting each and every attack before throwing an overpowered dragon rage at the Umbreon pack, followed by a quick disable from Metagross.

Cynthia walked in, as she stared at the now clear territory. "That was easy."

* * *

On the other side of the residential quarters, Ash found himself staring at a dozen agents with a multitude of pokémon within, standing guard. For one second, he cursed himself at having left Metagross outside with Cynthia.

 _No point complaining when I have a job to do._

Ash plucked out his pokeball. It was time to start wrecking things up. "Unleash your power, Gyarados!"

A soul wrenching roar resounded across the entire deck as the humongous sea serpent slammed into the lobby, literally smashing his way past the rocket agents who did their best to jump out of its way.

"Hyper beam on those present!" Ash commanded, as the supercharged beam slammed down a couple of Umbreon and Goldbat, banishing them away before they could return an attack.

"Stand guard, Gyarados." Ash commanded, raising a finger. "Target anyone wearing those dresses," he pointed at the dark blue uniforms the Rockets were wearing, "disable with extreme prejudice."

Gyarados roared with agreement.

Making sure that the entrance was clear, Ash summoned more pokémon as Rhydon and Pidgeotto appeared next to him. "We are under attack. Target anyone wearing those dresses." Ash pointed out. "Don't hold back!"

Rhydon's expression twisted into a maniacal grin, as the battle-happy pokémon began his rampage, slamming everything apart as he went racing ahead.

"Pidgeotto!" Ash commanded, "Stay by my side and protect-"

The rest of his words died in his throat as a massive shock wave slammed him against the opposite wall, as Ash dropped down, his temples bleeding with fresh, red blood that trickled down his face. Another bomb detonated, as two-thirds of the cruise's residential quarters were literally blown apart.

For two minutes, it was just his ears buzzing, his ears bleary and his head tearing itself apart in a massive headache. Somehow, Ash got himself up, using the walls as support, as he heard his familiar rock-type return back towards him, grunting and anxious. Above him, he could hear Pidgeotto screeching madly.

Several layers of concrete broke apart from the top right that moment, only to be banished away by a single tail sweep as Gyarados came rushing in, roaring in desperation.

"Thanks, Gyarados." Ash mumbled somehow, wiping off the blood seeping down his face. It felt hot, wet and all total sick, but somehow he controlled himself. He had friends to save, his pokémon to take back, and finally, fight back and survive the night.

"Rhydon, hold me." He muttered, before his legs almost gave away as he landed on Rhydon's tough hide, the rock-type making sure to hold him up. Gyarados coiled protectively before throwing in another hyper beam towards the submarines, catching one of their attacks midway and neutralizing it.

The attack on the cruise had begun in earnest.

* * *

Back on the deck, Ritchie, and a handful of trainers were actively fighting against the grunts while Steven alone was handling Executive Proton and around ten more grunts and their pokémon. The charismatic person on the stage had been replaced by the Steel-Master, as his Metagross, Skarmory, Aggron and Aegislash literally devastated through the Team Rocket crew and pokémon. Aggron alone was handling seven Houndoom, holding two of those fire-types by their heads and smashing them into each other. Skarmory on the other hand, was targeting the Magnemite in the air, her steel wings a little more than barely a blur in the air. Metagross was consistently firing powerful hyper beams at any pokémon or grunt he could find, while Aegislash was vanishing from one point to another, taking down one psi pokémon after another.

Only to be replaced by more and more pokémon to take up the mantle. Seriously how the hell were Team Rocket able to control and command so many pokémon at once? Steven was sure that he had at least incapacitated seventy pokémon in the last ten minutes, and yet more kept on coming.

"Did you seriously think that you could take over St. Anne?" Steven asked coldly, as Metagross raised a psychic shield to counter Proton's Houndoom who had thrown a flamethrower at him.

"Take over? You must be mistaken, Deputy Champion." Proton sneered. "This ship, this is a dead man's land. You are all going to _die,"_ he drawled out the last line before bringing out a whip and slashing it in Steven's direction. Strangely enough, it passed through Metagross's shields and lashed Steven on the knee, severing deep enough for the former Champion to yelp in pain.

"Like it?" Proton sneered. "Layered with the blood of dark types. Works wonders against psychic shields."

Metagross reared back to strike Proton but the Executive had already pulled back, throwing in a Drapion to lead the fight. He laughed as he glanced towards the incoming ships from all sides. "And now, the other Executives have arrived, Deputy Champion. Time to say your good bye."

Metagross however, was far from done yet. He slammed a powerful meteor mash onto the ship's deck, the shock waves enough to lift Proton off the floor, before a powerful psychic threw him off the deck.

"Thanks, Metagross." Steven replied, standing up despite the pain. "Must have severed a tendon. This is going to hurt real bad tomorrow."

He looked at the cruise all around, especially towards the part that had just blown up. "If there is a tomorrow, that is."

* * *

Inside the Banquet Hall, Executives Ariana and Cassidy, who had arrived alongside Proton, were facing an angry Lorelei and her pokémon, who were lashing out angrily towards their own. The other trainers were fighting against the grunts, though with the poison spray from the dozens of Weezing, there were several who had fallen on the ground, poisoned by the gases, as they screamed, holding their burning throats.

"Deugong, Aurora Beam. Milotic, Water Pulse!" Lorelei commanded, the latter attack literally blasting open one of the walls, carrying several Weezing with it. 'Blastoise, Poliwrath, use hydro cannon, full power!"

"Dodge that Weavile, and kill that Blastoise." Cassidy yelled, leaping to her left to escape a full powered ice blast that would have frozen her.

"Hyper beam!" Lorelei roared.

"Supersonic!" Ariana returned. "There is no escaping this, Elite four Lorelei. The Indigo League will be no more after this night."

"Over my dead body." Lorelei snarled, plucking out more pokeballs. "Beartic, Abomasnow, freeze them with Blizzard."

 _Where the hell is Lance when you need him?_

* * *

 **Three kilometres away from the present location of the St. Anne.**

"Don't waste it, Champion Lance. You aren't going anywhere, tonight!" Executive Pierce snarled. "The ones at the ship will have to do it without your help."

"I'll be there, and you will be arrested." Lance snarled back, his fingers on his pokeballs. Dragonite had been having a hard time against the plethora of pokémon surrounding him from all sides. It was time to bring out the big guns.

 _Especially that Hydreigon._ Lance thought bitterly. The dark draconic species from Unova was a real beast to deal with. Even Dragonite was having a hard time with it. Of course, it was easy to see that the beast was primal, untrained. But somehow, Team Rocket had infused it with all kinds of offensive attack moves—TM's obviously—and made it into a substantial threat.

Lance quickly recalled Dragonite. His starter had taken a number of hits from that beast of a Hydreigon, which needed to be dealt quickly. The attack had proved to be a much greater threat than he had estimated.

 _At least the Ace Team will reach there in time._

 _ **How… noble of you.**_ A strange, unfamiliar voice reverberated all around him. _**Thinking about saving the ship even at the cost of your own life. Then again, you are the Champion, after all.**_

Lance stood agape, at the entity that had suddenly appeared in front of him. Levitating in the air, around twenty feet away, was a humanoid creature. Its entire body seemed to be enveloped in some kind of armour, while he could see a single cord-like structure connect its brain to its backbone, as if the entire spinal cord had been modified into that structure. From the posterior, a rather thick tail-like protrusion extended out like an extended bulb-shape.

"You…" Lance breathed, "-are that armoured pokémon."

 _ **Mewtwo,**_ the voice reverberated once again. The surprising thing was, it seemed that despite being telepathically generated, the voice was audible, and could go as loud as Mewtwo wished it to be.

"Mewtwo." Lance repeated.

 _ **Congratulations.**_ Mewtwo returned. _**You are the first person aside from my partner that I have deigned to share my name with.**_

Lance passively noted that even the Executives and their pokémon, even the Hydreigon, had stopped the battle to hear Mewtwo speak. Clearly, whoever this _partner_ was, he was quite high up in the hierarchy, if not the Head of Team Rocket himself.

"Why me?" Lance asked, keeping his voice as casual as possible. Reaching the ship was still on the back of his mind, but getting out of the situation had a higher priority right now. Especially with the Executives around him.

 _ **And humble too? I suppose you will give me a fair challenge.**_

'If you want a challenge, I'll give you one later." Lance answered firmly. "Right now, I have more important priorities at the stake."

 _ **Hmm… interesting. I suppose you have a point. That means… you will have to be kept alive, to get me a decent challenge in the future…**_ Mewtwo pondered with an almost bored tone. _**Power plays are so… weird.**_ His triangular slits in the armour above his eyes glowed bright blue, and suddenly, all of the Ace trainers were levitated in the air, all of them gasping as if someone had just grasped their throats tightly and raised them up.

"Stop." Lance gritted his teeth.

The bluish shade turned deep red before vanishing all together, as several heads fell off from their bodies, the Ace trainers now decapitated, fresh, red blood sprouting out of their necks, as they hung lifelessly in the air. Almost instantly, Hydreigon was automatically summoned into its pokeball which dropped to the ground as Pierce started screaming his lungs out, before falling down to the ground, seemingly lifeless, just as the trainers, though there was no blood on his person.

 _What… kind of monster is this?_ Lance shuddered, gnashing his teeth, as his fingers etched closer to his pokeballs.

 _ **I am not a monster, Champion Lance. I am just… ahead of the curve.**_ Mewtwo raised his head. _**Look around you. There is no one to disturb us, right now. Give me the battle, a one-on-0ne, and I will let you leave. Try resisting me, and you shall join your mates in the afterlife.**_

Lance considered it. There was no way getting out alive against the…. Mewtwo's wishes. He would have to play the game according to his rules. "One on one, and you let me go. Do you agree to that?"

Mewtwo tilted his head. _**I am not the one with everything to lose, Champion.**_

"Very well," Lance lifted his pokeball to call upon one of his strongest battler. "Go, _Charizard!"_

The roar that accompanied the proclamation was enough to send weak-hearted men into cardiac arrest, as Lance's Charizard, the ten-foot tall behemoth landed on the ground, his nostrils sprouting flames as he regarded his contender for the battle predestined to happen.

 _ **I asked you for a battle, and you give me these… toys to waste my time on?**_

Lance didn't rise to his taunt. "Charizard, use dragon rush, and show him your power."

Charizard let out a soul-wrenching roar, before a draconic aura surrounded him, as he literally _vanished,_ before appearing two feet away from Mewtwo and unleashing a scorching, ravaging twisting beam of draconic energy out of his mouth, aiming for Mewtwo's face, who just levitated, without any shift in body language, as the super-powerful beam of liquid destruction arrived mere inches away from his armour-

And stopped.

Just like that.

"But- but how?" Lance gasped, not sure how to believe the fact that the psychic had simply _stopped_ the dragon breath midway, allowing it to congregate together into a single, condensed sphere. The more Charizard gave out, the smaller the sphere seemed to get. What was initially several feet thick beam of bright orange, was now condensed into a shining blue, and a little more in size than a ping pong ball.

 _ **Draconic energy. It is a wonderful thing, really. Too bad I cannot harvest it in this stage. Even I… it seems, am not omnipotent. How… irritating.**_

Lance however, had enough. It was beyond his comprehension how someone—anyone, could have made a joke out of _his Charizard's attack_ like that. Was there no end to this pokémon's power?

"Charizard," he replied tersely. "Use Blast Burn!"

Charizard let out another roar, before it got enveloped by a fiery crimson color, before lifting off the ground, as it transmitted the highly corrosive _blast burn energy_ towards Mewtwo, hoping that the attack would destabilize Mewtwo's hold on the draconic energy, and perhaps the explosion would be enough to annihilate this… psychic.

Mewtwo smiled. After all, body language was important. His partner had taught him that.

An explosion did happen. One that sent Lance flying several feet, hitting his head against a rock, as blood oozed out. Blurry-eyed and somewhat lacking in coordination, he stood up, only to watch in sheer horror as _Charizard_ floated in air, catching his own throat, trying to desperately lash out but in vain, as Mewtwo floated in front of him, without a single movement.

 _ **I have to agree, that was an impressive attack. Impressive, for a lower species. Though I must say, I am quite… bored with this. You are not worth it, not now at least.**_

"Please… please…." Lance pleaded, as Charizard was making noises no Charizard ever, should be making.

 _ **A one on one battle, Champion, and this… is my victory.**_

All of a sudden, the tail flame went 0ut with a poof, as Charizard hung, lifeless in the air, before getting unceremoniously dropped on the ground.

"You… you monster…" Lance raged, blood from his injury covering the majority of his face, as he rushed towards his fallen friend. There was no sign of injury, yet no sign of life in him. "I'll… I'll kill you."

 _ **I understand, Champion. It must feel bad, very bad indeed. To know so desperately that you are right, yet to fail, all the same.**_ Mewtwo spoke softly. _**You did nothing to me, but I took away a pokémon from you. Thus…**_

 _ **I must give something back.**_

There was a soft explosion as one of the fallen pokeballs on the ground burst open, releasing the Hydreigon, which fell upon its knees, before beginning to screech in unspeakable agony, before condensing into bright light, which got sucked into _Charizard's_ pokeball.

 _ **And now I have compensated for that. Farewell, Champion. I hope the next time we clash our powers, you will have something better for me to waste my time on.**_

And then, there was silence, as Lance Wataru, Champion of Kanto and Johto, hugged the dead remains of one of his oldest friends, began to howl in sorrow, his voice shrieking in the middle of the empty grassland.

* * *

 **Back on the St. Anne.**

The cruise ship was already in tatters, fires burning at several places, the residential quarters destroyed with at least several dozen people, hostages and grunts alike, all dead. Steven and Glacia were fighting on the main deck against six Executives, while Lorelei was in the main Hall, aided by Jon Dickson and a few others, fighting against Executives Cassidy and Ariana, who were indeed, giving her a hard time, considering the number of times they tried to use the other trainers as scapegoats for diversionary tactics.

Meanwhile in the residential quarters, Ash found himself facing a Rocket Executive. His head was bleeding, and the throbbing headache certainly didn't help matters, but there was no way he would allow a cold-blooded murderer, the likes of which was standing in front of him to win. No matter the cost.

"Gyarados, hyper beam!" Ash yelled, past caring about the consequences now.

"Magmortar, use fire blast!" Butch roared in return, as the volcanic pokémon threw out a blazing torrent of hot, scorching flames which literally overwhelmed the hyper beam, striking hard at Gyarados, who fell down onto the ground, groaning.

"Gyarados, return." Ash gritted his teeth. "Rhydon, annihilate that Magmortar. Pidgeotto, use twister!"

"Heeh!" The madman grinned. "Magmortar, throw some spice into that twister. Flame thrower!"

Ash watched with horror as Pidgeotto's twister shifted into blazing fire tornado, one that Magmortar was able to direct towards the main deck, before Rhydon intercepted him, catching his fiery arms in a battle of close combat. Unfortunately for Rhydon, Magmortar had other ideas, as he belched out scorching balls of lava through the cannon-like protrusions that were his arms, straight towards Rhydon, pushing him back, before sending a powerful fire blast, enough to lift Rhydon up and throw him off the deck.

"Rhydon!" Ash screamed, returning him back in mid-air, when a fire-blast sent him flying, hitting the wall, as he coughed, and throwing out blood.

"Magmortar," Butch grinned. "Scorch him nice and good."

Magmortar grinned nastily as he belched out two streams of hot fire in Ash's general direction, said flames reaching almost inches close to him when-

Two twin torrents of water extinguished the flames, before going ahead to slam into Magmortar in the chest, making the beast roar in irritation and pain.

"Don't worry, Ash." It was Harrison. "I'll take care of this from here on. Metagross, get Ash to safety."

Ash felt a bluish aura engulf him as he was lifted off from the ground, before he slowly felt a hard surface to land on. The shiny black color, coupled with the complete flat surface made him realize where he was.

He was lying on Metagross's head.

"Metagross." He croaked.

 _ **I am here, human Ash. I will take care of everything.**_

 _Thank you…_

Butch gnashed his teeth. "I don't want to play this game. Magmortar, burn them all. Use fire blast!"

Only that Blastoise and Metagross were ready for it.

"Hydro Cannon." Harrison commanded, as Blastoise let out his most devastating attack, slamming into Magmortar before he had even prepared his attack properly. Meanwhile, Metagross had already covered the distance between them and slammed his most powerful _Meteor Mash_ into the volcano pokémon's chest, literally lifting him off the deck as another fresh set of twin torrents came slamming into the fire-type, sending him straight into the ocean.

"Magmortar!" Butch yelled. Turning to Harrison, he snarled. "I'll make you pay for this."

"Send me the bill." Harrison smirked, as Butch looked confused, only to look in horror as a shining claw slammed into his left arm, the sheer momentum sending him off the deck, into the water just like his pokémon.

"Great punch!" Harrison waved a fist in the air, smirking at Metagross who just hummed, as Ash pushed himself upwards, able to sit now, that Metagross had used his psychic powers to remove all traces of headache and pain from his mind. It would have effects later on, but presently, it would save his life.

"Are you okay?" Harrison asked, concerned. "That attack must have seriously hurt."

"I'll live." Ash croaked. "Thanks for coming to save me, but what are you- shouldn't you be with Misty?"

Harrison scowled in frustration. "The teleportation deployment stopped working after the first three times. Somebody raised a psychic wall all around the ship. No psychic is able to go in or out."

"Damn!" Ash exploded. "What happens then?"

Harrison's expression brightened. "Misty is helping the trainers get away through underwater means. She had the bright idea to create psychic bubbles, around groups of three trainers, and then latch the trainers onto her Gyarados. She is helping them get away through underwater." He paused. "It's not safe to fly outside now, especially with the attacks going on."

"Genius." Ash laughed, coughing out more blood, much to Harrison's concern. "Don't worry, I'll survive. We need to get to the deck. Where's Cynthia?"

"She's is clearing the lower basement. She told me to get you, and defend the pokémon center against-damn!"

Ash turned around as another detonation happened, this one close to the pokémon center. He turned back in sheer horror, but Harrison had already sprinted ahead.

 _Metagross._

 _ **Right on.**_

* * *

"Where the _hell_ is Lance?" Cynthia screamed, as she leapt to the side, just in time to avoid a poison-sting attack from an enraged Drapion. Garchomp swung past her, slashing the poison-type with his fin, before throwing a dragon pulse right on its face, as the dragon held Cynthia in his arms and leapt off the ground, arriving right in time to deflect a shadow ball that would have hit Steven from the right.

"Thanks." Steven breathed, his knee still hurt and bleeding like hell. The man looked like he had suddenly aged by ten years, as he dodged another burst of lightning from an attacking Magnemite before Skarmory banished with one of her countless steel wings.

"Did Lance send any message?" Cynthia asked, directing Garchomp to help Skarmory and Metagross.

"Not yet. Lance and the Ace Team are unresponsive, and off the grid. Besides, the psychic barrier is preventing all kinds of communication." Steven replied, his voice hoarse.

"Are you ready to finally surrender, Steven Stone?" Proton, who had a cut right across his face, snarled at him.

"You wish." Steven shot back.

Proton laughed aloud. A cold, cruel laugh filled with refined cruelty. "Your Champion has been dealt with. Lance, _cannot_ come for anyone's help."

Steven's eyebrows widened. "You lie!"

"Do I?" Proton sneered. "Very well. I suppose if my words cannot convince you, see for yourself, the sight of your own annihilation." He brazenly pointed high up in the night sky, as the Elite trainers followed his direction.

There, levitating in the night sky, was a humanoid creature, with his bulb-like tail waving softly in the night breeze. Despite the shadow, Steven could make out the shroud of armour all around the entity, as it watched the ship from its vantage point.

"The armoured pokémon." Steven breathed with raw desperation, fear and helplessness. _Did Lance… did this pokémon kill Lance?_

The shock of seeing the armoured creature gave Proton the opening he wanted. Swirling his whip, he lashed out towards Cynthia, aiming to decapitate her, only for a sudden blur to push her aside, as the whip stuck flesh, making the interrupting entity fall down on the ground, groaning in agony. The part where the whip had struck him had literally scorched his flesh.

"Ash!" Cynthia screamed, recognizing who had just saved her life. "Garchomp!" She snarled, but no command was needed. Proton was still grinning devilishly, before his grin faltered, as a thin line of blood was visible on his neck, which then fell off, rolling on the floor, as his body stood lifeless, before joining its fallen part. Both Cynthia and Steven were too shocked to notice what had happened, though Metagross's eyes glowed a soft blue before turning pitch dark like always.

"Shiro…." Ash coughed, as Cynthia tried to get him up. His leg was bleeding, as were the countless injuries on his person. If nothing was done, the boy would die. However, it was only because of Metagross's powers that he retained his capacity to think and make judgements, ignoring the pain of his scarred and scorched limbs.

"Ash, why did you-?" Cynthia all but shouted.

"You are… Champion." Ash coughed, before somehow managing to stand up, leaning on her, before looking up, as his face went pale. Somehow, in the depths of his mind, he knew who it was he was staring at.

 _ **We meet again, young one. Your brave spirit still shines, even brighter than last time.**_

Ash spitted out blood from his mouth. "It's the psychic… the armoured pokémon."

Cynthia's Garchomp however, had other ideas. The draconic creature let out a howl, gathering an immense amount of draconic energy into its maw before releasing it all in the form of an orange mass, one that would reach high up in the air before releasing its most devastating attack.

 _Draco Meteor._

* * *

Mewtwo watched with curiosity as the orange blob shot higher and higher into the atmosphere, before slowing down, before it finally settled in the air, hovering for a while, as it changed color into one of blazing silver, as it fractured into several blobs, one that looked like tiny meteors, which were projected towards Mewtwo. With a lazy thought, Mewtwo simply redirected the attack down towards the water, taking out a couple of Team Rocket submarines as well.

They were after all, inferior, pathetic. _Worms_ in the face of the superior species.

 _ **Draco meteor. Interesting attack.**_ Mewtwo's voice, amplified exponentially spoke to them. After all, when the Lord speaks, _everyone_ must be given the chance to listen. _**I believe I am an attentive student. Let us see how good I learnt that attack.**_

His lips twisted into a tiny smirk, as he channelled his assimilated power, one that he had slowly, diligently, gathered within him over the past couple of months, shaping them into draconic energy, as he recreated a vast orange globule in the sky, at least a hundred times larger than Garchomp's had been. Then, he allowed the orange blob to slowly levitate up in the sky, go higher and higher, before it stopped.

Then, it slowly morphed into a silvery white color, its light enveloping the moon in sheer intensity.

 _ **I love this part about meteors. The purity of them, Boom, the end… start again. The world made clean for the new man… to rebuild.**_

The brimming vortex of draconic energy then burst open with a single explosion, as _countless Draco meteors_ shone in the night sky, ready to fall upon the St. Anne, and send it to its doom.

* * *

Ash stood on the deck, his arms somehow on Cynthia's shoulders for support, his eyes gazing in untold horror as he witnessed hundreds of _Draco meteors_ high up in the sky, almost at the verge of finishing their trajectory upwards before they would fall down onto the St. Anne.

 _No one, no one will be able to stand against that much power._

 _No one._

 _ **Human Ash?**_ A rather familiar voice entered into his troubled mind.

 _Metagross?_ Ash could somehow hear Pidgeotto screeching, as the avian flew around him. Even the Rocket grunts and their pokémon had stopped, staring in awe as the cataclysm that was about to fall down upon them from above.

This was the end.

 _ **The avian and I would like to tell you, as hopelessly optimistic as it might sound, that we would follow you into Distortion itself. Do not fear.**_

Ash laughed. He didn't really know what _distortion_ meant, but guessed that it would be something akin to the pokémon idea of a Hell.

 _ **The abomination's power shines greater than a Legendary.**_ Metagross spoke again.

Legendary.

Like Articuno, whose single ice beam had literally smashed against Derrick's Metagross's powerful attack? Yeah… legendary, all right.

Something floated up in Ash's mind, something that he had once known, but almost forgotten. Something… from a distant, half-remembered dream.

 _Only a pseudo-legendary has any chance against a Legendary…_

A pseudo-legendary? Ash wanted to laugh. His situation was hopeless, hilariously so. He had Metagross. Steven had one too. Cynthia's Garchomp added a third. Still, none of them were anything more than insects before this titan of immeasurable strength. Such power could only be faced by….

The words died in Ash's throat, as a half-remembered conversation, one that he had had, with the researcher, in the dead of the night back on the shores of Cerulean Sea, rose in front of his mind.

* * *

" **What is this… big deal about true names, anyway?" Ash asked a somewhat annoyed researcher, who wanted nothing better than to dispose the topic.**

 **Bill frowned. "You realize this is under the contract, right? Under no conditions, is this information to be revealed to anyone. If you do, you will lose your mind forever."**

" **I… understand."**

 **Bill scowled. "I don't think you do. However, you are my associate and I owe you. So, against my better judgement, I will share the details with you. See Ash, just like you and me, every pokémon in the world, have names, and names,** _ **have power."**_

" **I don't understand." Ash frowned in confusion.**

" **Knowing someone's name gives us a form of… power over that person. Of course, we humans lack that much spiritual essence to use the power of** _ **names,**_ **but pokémon, whose essences are far deeper, stronger and pure, are able to do so. Like Dragonite for example, there are so dozens of them out there, but every one of them have a unique name."**

" **But… names are recurring. I bet there are lots' of Ash's and Bill's around."**

 **Bill laughed. "True, but if you notice, every person utters his name in his own unique way. No too Bill's will say their name the same way, there is always a difference, no matter how insignificant, but there is. Nevertheless, as I said, we lack the spiritual essences to be tied to the concept of names, though some… people do, although they are quite… rare in human history."**

" **Who are they?"**

" **They are called, Aura Guardians. Practitioners of the Aura. It is told that an Aura Guardian can reshape his own aura to imitate a 'pokémon move' at will."**

 **Ash digested that fact with great difficulty.**

" **Pokémon however, have their own unique names, and for the betterment of everyone, such names are usually… hidden from human kind. I have been…extremely lucky to come across an ancient scripture that contained the true name of the last of the fallen dragon kings."**

 **Ash sat agape, still unsure of what he was hearing was truth or mere fiction.**

" **It is believed, that calling out the name of a pokémon, the true name that is, will make that pokémon appear before you. However, beware, that for anyone to know a pokémon's name is a grievous insult to said pokémon, since it means you… hold a power over it. Under most conditions, using a pokémon's true name will often result in the pokémon getting summoned, and then killing you for the mere transgression alone."**

 **Ash's eyes were wide as saucers.**

" **I should not need to tell you** _ **why not**_ **to speak the King's name aloud."**

 **Ash could only bob his head in reply.**

* * *

 _Metagross…_ Ash's voice broke, as an overwhelming mundane feeling gripped his heart.

 _ **Human Ash?**_

 _If I die, and you manage to survive, make sure that you, and my other pokémon, go with Shirona._ Ash smiled. For some reason, he had stuck with Shirona, since that was the name he had embedded his memories with the Champion over the last few days. _She is a Champion, and will make you all as strong as you want._

Metagross stayed silent.

A thin smile spread on Ash's face, as he slowly uncoiled his arm from Cynthia's shoulder, and before the girl could even realize, to her horror, of what had just happened, Ash slid off from his position, a foot away from the waters, leaping into the sea.

"Ash!" Cynthia screamed.

There was no reply. Only the dark waters reflected Cynthia's shocked face back at her.

* * *

Mewtwo stood floating in his position in the sky waiting for the Draco Meteors to finish their upward trajectory. There was no hurry, and if it were up to him, he would stop _Time itself_ to savour this moment to the fullest. So many people, so many… Elite trainers, so many pokémon, powerful and weak… so many hopes, so many fears…

All of them unanswered, as if like the omnipotent Creator simply _didn't care_ about their fate.

Mewtwo smiled. _Sometimes I think… maybe I am the Creator myself._

The thought interested him. Mew. The guardian of Kanto, was closer to the concept of the Creator, since all pokémon were supposedly created from Mew, including… himself.

Mewtwo frowned. He would have to arrange a meeting between himself and his creator. It would be… interesting.

He looked down at the ship, his eyes observing the little child he had met before, back at the power plant. Just like back then, the child's inner essence glowed with bravery, despite being in the presence of his own doom, the child did not run.

But wait.

 _Why am I getting the feeling of… resignation from him? Did I judge him wrong? Is he also like those countless worms… who appear brave in the beginning, but then reveal their true selves when the pain begins?_

A feeling of disappointment rushed through his very being.

Mewtwo decided he didn't like it.

The kid slid into the water, sinking into its very depths.

 _Little kid? Did he… give up? I didn't think he had it in him._

The herd of Tauros had given up. The psi pokémon had given up. The ghosts would soon follow the trend. Champion Lance had given up. The ship's population, had given up.

 _Did you just join up with them, little one? I thought you were brave. Different._

Mewtwo had been rather… impressed with the kid when he had met him back at the power plant. Not because of his bravery. Bravery had little interest to him. Nor did his diligence, his arrogance, his hope or his aptitude to battling concern Mewtwo in the slightest.

No. There was something else in the kid. Something that… _endeared,_ for lack of a better word, Mewtwo to him.

Ash Ketchum was _a void_. A walking, talking, breathing…. Living source of _purposelessness._

 _Just like I had been, back there after killing my creator. The moment… when I was free of my…_

 _Strings._

Ash Ketchum… the boy felt just as purposeless back then. Training his pokémon to make them powerful, make them achieve their own ambitions was a way to go. It wasn't a means to an end, but at least, it gave him a drive to pursue the path he was on. To have the best, the most powerful team in the world. A simple, immature dream, but a dream nevertheless.

 _There is something… beautiful about your own lack of purpose fuelling your ambition._

A dream that would ignore him from his own state of purposeless existence. A dream that would perhaps, allow him to find the _why_ of his own existence.

 _Just like I am._

He looked down at the dark waters. It had been three seconds since the boy had sunken into the depths.

 _Is Ash Ketchum… gone?_

Mewtwo decided he didn't like it. He wanted the boy back, if solely for curiosity's sake.

He _hindered_ his own power. It was, as unfortunate as it was, too great to pull the boy from the water, without literally tearing him into two halves. Power was after all, a brute tool, one that had to honed and shaped into focus and precision.

 _Someday I will master my own power._

He concentrated on an infinitesimally small fragment of his own psychic awareness, one that was still under his absolute command, to get the boy back.

It was unnecessary.

The entire area was being engulfed in some kind of draconic mist. Mewtwo felt that he would succumb to it for a moment. It was like that Charizard's power, only magnified by several hundred-fold. Only if he had the ability to harvest this power in this state….

 _Wishes… they never come true. They have to be made to come true._

An immensely powerful tectonic wave shocked the sea, shattering several of the submarines into pieces, as well as some parts of the already tattered St. Anne. With a sudden force, _something lifted_ Ash Ketchum upwards, literally throwing him off from the waters as his body hit the deck, sprouting water from his mouth, as the boy, still somewhat conscious, looked up with something like…

 _Hope?_

The sea parted, as a titan of antiquity rose from its depths. Its body draconic, its height larger than anything anyone had ever comprehended, its power more than what Mewtwo could have imagined anyone, even his own self, to ever have, rose from the depths of the sea.

 _Is that a… a Dragonite?_

The mythical creature of antiquity let out an angry roar.

Mewtwo looked back at the boy lying on the deck.

 _Did you summon that ferocious creature to battle me, Ash Ketchum?_

* * *

The slumbering dragon had felt the tremors, tasted the raw power that could only belong to a _legendary,_ shine on the world above the dark waters. For one moment, the last of the fallen kings had thought that perhaps, the Dark God had risen again, to bring about that annihilation that he had promised upon the world.

Then he felt it.

A whisper.

A dying wish. One that wasn't muttered out of ambition, but out of hope. Out of…

Out of a wish for salvation.

A name.

 _ **An… Sah…. Lohn…**_

And the King felt it. The person who had summoned it was the same person who had faced him the previous time, and learnt his true name. However, the _blight_ hadn't summoned him out of ambition, but for something entirely opposite.

Salvation.

And the King rose. After all, he was a _Dragonite._ And Dragonite were helpful, aiding sailors lost in the sea, helping the ship-wrecked to return back to their loved ones.

The fallen king rose up from the dark waters, as he witnessed the falling meteors… _draconic energy,_ he realized- the _abomination_ was channelling _reshaped, draconian energy_ to suit its own sinister purposes.

That, would not do.

King Dragonite let out a roar, giving a sideward glance at the drenched human-ling who had summoned him, now lying on the deck, surrounded by his friends.

And the King's _judgement_ began.

* * *

Not a single person or pokémon, friend foe alike, uttered a single noise. All of them were literally gawking at the Dragonite- if that was a Dragonite, let out an earth-shattering roar, before sending a _single_ Hyper Beam into the atmosphere, the sheer power and size of which managed to literally _shatter_ a majority of the falling draconic bombs with a single strike. Confident that the humans and pokémon on the ship would be able to deal with the rest, the fallen king turned to stare at the abomination, one who wielded the unfathomable power of a Legendary, and yet, his actions were that of the lowest scum imaginable.

With another howl, the king sent hurling a burst of pure power—a dragon pulse that was yards wide, towards Mewtwo, who shockingly enough, had to hold his hands forward to stop the powerful attack from reaching towards him, as he began to use his true power. However, Dragonite was far from done. He released a quick hyper beam, one just as powerful as the previous one, in quick succession with the overpowered dragon pulse. The abomination might have been able to somehow hold back the dragon pulse, but when the hyper beam slammed into the condensed draconic energy, nothing on earth, _legendary or not,_ was able to contain the explosion that happened, as shockwave powerful enough to tear the St. Anne into pieces came lashing out of it in all directions.

The Rockets had, expectedly, departed from the destroyed ship as quickly as possible. With the advent of this… creature of antiquity, neither the Executives nor the Grunts could have an idea about what would possibly happen. Mewtwo's lackadaisical behaviour towards them certainly didn't help matters. In a matter of mere minutes, the entire crew of Rockets had somehow scrambled their way out of St. Anne, returning to whatever submarines were still present and functional- the Executives teleporting away now that the psychic shields held in place by Mewtwo were no more.

The absence of the psychic barrier was immediately felt by the trainers on the ship, was teams of Alakazam appeared out of nowhere, ready to continue their task of teleportation deployment, as they were ordered to do. While Misty and the psi pokémon on the ship had transferred quite a number of people already, it was time for the Wailord teams t0 be set loose.

Five Wailord appeared on the water, as the remaining people began to slowly scramble onto them, hoping against hope that the mythical creature would somehow end that omnipotent pokémon, which had been, a moment ago, ready to end their lives with a single strike.

Steven, Harrison and Lorelei were helping the crowds get over to the Wailord group that floated on the waters, ready to deport with the people-trainers and sailors alike. Glacia had suffered from some injuries but none that wouldn't heal in a day or two. Cynthia hadn't moved from her position beside Ash, whom she had taken up on a higher ground, just to ensure that the idiot didn't pull out any new suicidal tricks under her watch, though she couldn't help but wonder what _Ash_ had done to get that creature come to their aid.

 _Maybe Steven knows something, given the way he was staring at him._ She thought to herself.

"Cynthia, a little help please?" Glacia asked, pinching her left arm to stop it from bleeding where the cut had been quite severe. 'It looks like it cut through the vein. I'll need some medical aid."

"But…"

"Go." Ash croaked. "I'll manage fine." He opened his eyes slowly, staring at Pidgeotto zooming on top of his head in the air, and at Metagross much higher up, helping Garchomp take care of the remaining Draco meteor attacks that were falling towards them. "I have Pidgeotto with me. I trust her with my life."

He thought he heard a screech from his favourite avian after that comment.

"Don't you start on any funny ideas. Mister." Cynthia glared at him, before letting him down on the deck- or whatever remained of the deck anyway, considering the entire ship was shattered and in parts—shades of its past splendour floating on the still waters of an indifferent sea.

He looked towards the other end of the night sky, where the King Dragonite was giving Mewtwo a really hard time, the psychic _actually having_ to use his powers to defend and attack against someone of the King's stature and power, like any other normal pokémon.

 _Welcome to earth, asshole._

Ash could have sworn he had a feeling of _amusement_ flit through his mind.

Only if the entire thing had ended with the feeling.

After withstanding all that it had, the St. Anne, while a magnificent specimen, was after all, a machine. And like every machine, it too, had its own limits before it broke down to pieces. The next shockwave that lashed against its machinery after Mewtwo and the Dragonite clashed- a shadow ball against a dragon pulse to be exact was too much for it to hold on, for any longer.

The St. Anne gave up.

The ground beneath his legs suddenly gave up with an indiscriminate creak, as Ash felt himself fall down, down towards the broken piece of machinery. There was no water, no raging fires or anything—just broken pieces of metal and equipment. One that would, literally tear him apart. Ash hit his back against the sharp side of the broken deck, rendering him almost unconscious as he fell down towards the metal pit.

The last thing his semi-comatose mind registered was the sound of Pidgeotto _screeching in agony._

* * *

 **AN: And that ends it. The end of the St. Anne Arc. Stay tuned for what happens with Ash after that. It took me two days to write, scratch it off, and rewrite the battle scenes. Hope I managed to do it some justice. Also, I'd really love it if you would give a review after reading the chapters. As an aspiring author, reviews are the one thing I look up to, the most. If you think the chapter was to your liking, please leave a review at the end of it.**

 **Thank you.**


	14. Challenged

_Darkness._

 _He slowly opened his eyes, taking in the alien environment all around him._

 _Bubbles rising._

 _He opened his mouth, as his heart wrenched, deprived of oxygen as bubbles frothed his lips._

 _He closed it, closing his eyes as well._

 _Wasn't this… better? There was so much noise outside… so much hurt, so much pain, anger, rage, fire, destruction, loss…_

 _Darkness._

 _He opened his eyes again._

 _ **I'll become the world's greatest Pokémon master, Mom. You'll see.**_

 _Shelgon. Poliwhirl. Rhydon. Metagross. Charmander. Crawdaunt. Gyarados. Even the newly joined Lairon, and the mysterious Absol, though he hadn't even had a single word exchanged with her._

 _A small, spherical object floated up front, sinking into the depths of the indifferent sea,_

 _A pokeball._

 _He extended his hand, it pained to do so, but he did it anyway. The strange looking pokeball fit into his palm snugly._

 _His lips opened, as he remembered a name. A name that was perhaps his last chance. Their last chance._

 _ **An… sah… lohn…**_

* * *

Ask Ketchum opened his eyes. It hurt, as bright light seemed to inundate his very existence. He shut them again.

 _ **Human Ash?**_

 _Metagross?_ Ash opened his eyes, ignoring the stabbing pain he felt, as he sat up on the white bed. The entire room had large, whitewashed walls, the somewhat cool temperature reminding him that there was some air-conditioning going on from somewhere. He looked down at himself—his arms bandaged above the elbow, a larger one on his abdomen, and one tied around his temples. He was pretty sure that there were a couple on his legs as well.

 _Damn. It feels like getting electrocuted by Pikachu all over again._

Ash chuckled.

 _ **Welcome back, human Ash. The avian and I thought we almost lost you.**_

 _Metagross… Where… where am I? What is this place?_

As if in answer to that question, the door to his right opened wide, as a Nurse Joy came walking in, a Chansey following her footsteps, carrying a plate of what seemed to be some kind of… soup, he mused. There was also a large box beside it.

"It's good to see you're awake." Nurse Joy spoke up, with a serene expression on his face.

"Nurse… Joy. Where am I?"

The nurse raised a finger. "Don't fret. You are completely safe, and on Mirage Island. How are you feeling?"

Ash glanced back at his bandaged limbs. "I don't… know. Do you… think I can walk?"

"I wouldn't recommend it, right now, but if you insist," the Nurse frowned, "I could help you get a wheelchair."

Ash frowned, considering the prospect. Last he remembered, his leg had taken quite the injury. Worsening it would only complicate matters even more. He slowly nodded his head in agreement.

"Great." The nurse chirped. "Chansey, please arrange for a wheelchair for Mr. Ketchum."

"Nurse Joy, not to sound… ungrateful, or anything, but… how did I get here?"

Joy smiled. "What is the last thing that you remember?"

 _Good question._ Ash closed his eyes. It seemed like a half-forgotten dream. The meteors shining in the sky. The king Dragonite coming to his summons. The ship breaking, and him falling down into the….

He opened his eyes. "The ship… deck broke and I fell down through the crack. I think I heard Pidgeotto-"

Nurse Joy's eyes seemed to flash with something like recognition, though she didn't interrupt him.

"—I think I heard Pidgeotto screeching in pain. Maybe… she got hurt or something from the battle, but... anyway, how did I get here?" Ash questioned again.

The nurse sighed. "The former Hoenn Champion brought you here, and paid for your treatment. You were… comatose for three days. Now that you are back to health, it might solve some matters."

"Steven? Steven brought me here? Where's he now? And Cynthia? Where's-?"

Nurse Joy raised a finger, gesturing him to stop. "Mr. Stone has dictated that I should inform him when you wake up. As soon as I leave this room, I shall do so. Meanwhile," she held up the bowl of soup that stood on the table, "eat up. You have been in a coma for three days, and need a lot of nourishment."

Ash suddenly felt something missing on his right hand, and panicked. "Nurse Joy… was there any device on my right hand? Like… here on the wrist?"

The nurse frowned at the clearly delirious individual. "I have them here with me, safe and secure." She pointed towards the box on the table. "Being an electronic gadget, those things can interfere with the treatment."

"Uh, thanks. Can I get it back?"

"Sure." The nurse drawled, as she lifted the top of the box up, before taking out what he realized as his Xtransceiver and Pokenav. "Is this enough or should I deliver your entire luggage?"

Ash cringed at her tone, which was dripping with sarcasm. Without further comment, he calmly accepted the two gadgets, putting the Xtransceiver on his right hand. Then, realizing that he was in white hospital robes, he looked back at the nurse sheepishly. "I don't have any place to keep it for now."

"Really? I didn't know that."

Ash looked down, wondering if all Nurse Joys were so sarcastic, or if it was simply a Hoenn flavour.

"Nurse Joy-"

The pink-haired woman sighed.

"Just one last thing."

"Just the one?"

Ash flushed. "My pokémon—I had Metagross and Pidgeotto out when I fell—do you know where they are?"

The nurse arched an eyebrow. "Your pokémon are in perfectly good condition, Mr. Ketchum. I'd appreciate it if you would kindly shut up and feed yourself."

"But my pokémon-" Ash stopped midway, meeting the cold stare of the nurse. Not willing to take his chances, he instantly looked down.

"You sure are one inquisitive character, aren't you, Mr. Ketchum?"

Ash looked way too hopeful to even afford to be embarrassed.

Joy looked exasperated, as she turned around, just in time to see Chansey bring a wheelchair into the ward. She turned towards Ash. "I'll help you on the chair, then we'll get you to your pokémon."

* * *

The pokémon center of Mirage Island, Ash observed, was much larger than the ones he had seen in Kanto. Not only that, the entire compound was much, much larger and lavish compared to those of Cerulean and Vermillion city. Maybe it was a Hoenn thing, or maybe this particular center had a larger group to attend. Either way, he slowly moved around on the wheelchair, following the directions of the Nurse who walked beside him.

"Can you tell me anything about what happened with St. Anne? I mean, after that… fight?"

Nurse Joy looked solemn. "I am not sure, about over a hundred and seventy people died in the struggle, and countless pokémon were lost. There are divers hired to fish out pokeballs from underneath the sea."

That reminded him.

"Nurse Joy… did I have a… a pokeball on me when I reached here?"

For some reason, Nurse Joy frowned. "Interesting that you mentioned it. The pokeball that was found on your person wasn't a registered one. If not for the fact that the former Champion vouched for you, I would have taken you as a pokémon poacher."

Ash widened his eyes. "Nurse Joy, I swear I didn't-"

Joy raised a finger again. "Relax. The former Champion wouldn't just vouch for anyone like that. To answer your question, yes, there was a pokeball on your person when you arrived here. An unregistered one, which had an exotic pokémon locked inside it." She paused. "I must confess that I do not, in fact, know its name, though the former Champion seemed to think it to be of a _dark-type_."

The nurse looked at Ash squarely in the eye. "Under his orders, I registered the pokeball, and the contained pokémon under your name. As of right now, you are its legal owner."

Ash swallowed, but didn't interrupt.

"The pokémon inside was injured, and so I took the opportunity to treat it, before returning it back into the ball. It will be handed over to you once you are deemed fit to leave the ward."

"And my pokémon? What about them?"

"Your Metagross and Pidgeot have undergone treatment and are completely fine now, though," her face scrunched, "they have been resisting returning to their pokeballs. I swear I haven't seen a more stubborn pair."

Ash chuckled weakly, before her words struck him. "Pidgeot?"

Almost as if in answer to his question, he turned past the end of the corridor into what seemed to be a… large garden of sorts, with several grass-types and bug-types all around, and in the centre of the garden, floating in the air, was Metagross. Beside him, perched on the ground, a rather _odd_ sight for the bird, was Pidgeot.

The avian let out a wild screech at seeing Ash, before she hopped towards him, as Ash watched her with widened, awestruck eyes.

The last time he saw her, Pidgeotto was hardly larger than three feet at most. The one standing in front of him, watching him with those shiny, onyx eyes was an impressive specimen, spanning over eight feet.

Pidgeot let out another screech of happiness.

"Pidgeot," Ash murmured, as the great avian brought her head closer to Ash so that he could touch her beak. By the Gods, her head alone traversed the length of his arm. "You evolved? To save me?"

There was something… undecipherable in Pidgeot's eyes, as she slowly pushed her head away, before raising it up in the air, glancing down at him. Beside her, Metagross hummed softly.

"She's something, isn't she?" Nurse Joy remarked softly. "In fact, at first I wasn't even sure that she was a Pidgeot in the first place."

"Pidgeot's a shiny pokémon." Ash tried to clarify.

"Not that," the nurse interrupted. She took out her Pokenav to show him a picture of what a _shiny_ Pidgeot looked like. The average height of a Pidgeot was around five feet at most, hardly a comparison to this behemoth of a specimen in front of them. Besides that, the decorated golden crest that Pidgeotto boasted would have extended a little further into a flowing mane, and the outer feathers would have attained a slightly reddish tinge.

Ash's Pidgeot however, looked remarkably different.

The golden plumage, the overflowing crest, the mane, and the feathers, all of them were there, but not the only changes visible. In addition to her humongous size, which Ash failed to comprehend since as Pidgeotto, she was significantly smallerthan average, an extra, thin, _crimson_ mane had protruded out of her golden crest, flowing down like a mane, long past her tail, which was now shaded with aquiline and crimson as well. The edges of her wings had attained a bluish sheen, while her wings had crimson shades along the edges.

Pidgeot, now truly looked like a regal queen. One that was born to rule and scour the skies.

"I'm not sure why, but I am beginning to think that Pidgeotto's evolution was not… natural."

Ash nearly hurt his neck, given how quickly he arched towards her.

"Careful." Joy admonished. "From the tests, it can be inferenced, that your _Pidgeotto,_ was certainly _not_ happy, when she was evolving. In fact, had I not known better, I would have said that someone _forced_ her to evolve, with the aid of certain evolutionary stones."

"But, there was no one there that could have-" Ash stopped midway, before the sounds of Pidgeotto screeching in agony came to mind. He turned towards Metagross. "Do you know what might have happened to her?"

Metagross hummed slowly. _**The avian was in pain when she was forced to evolve. She did not choose it. She did not want it. She was not ready for it. She says… she feels different.**_

Ash frowned in worry. It seemed like his worries weren't at an end. _Are you all right?_

 _ **I am perfectly capable of functioning, human Ash. Your concern though welcome, is not required.**_

Ash rolled his eyes.

 _Why do you always call me 'human Ash'? Just call me by my name._

 _ **As you wish.**_

"What about my other pokémon?" He asked, loudly.

"Your Gyarados and Rhydon had injuries, before I treated them. The rest of your pokémon seem healthy. They are now resting in the pokeballs. I can bring them to you, though-" she paused for a moment, "I will need your word that the garden and the pokémon living here will not be disturbed."

Ash chuckled. "You have my word."

The Nurse smiled. "I will send Chansey with your pokeballs. I need to make that call to Mr. Stone first. Can I expect you to be here by yourself without any trouble?"

Ash bobbed his head carefully. "Don't worry."

* * *

Ash watched the Nurse walk out of the garden, leaving him with Pidgeot and Metagross. "Hey Pidgeot?"

The majestic bird looked back at him. For some reason, he instinctively knew that she wouldn't hurt him. How he knew that, he didn't know, but he supposed that after all that they had been together, some bonds couldn't help but form between them.

"I'm really sorry, about the pain you had to suffer." He paused, noticing a strange glint in her eye. "I promise I will find out what happened to you."

Pidgeot let out a very, very soft gurgle, before glaring at the garden all around her.

"This place is quite… small for a queen like you, isn't it, Pidgeot?"

The avian screeched agreeably. At least her trainer was sensible enough to consider her own situation. A lady needed her sweet comforts, after all.

"I wouldn't mind if you'd like to spread your wings and soar out into the sky, you know." Ash suggested.

Pidgeot let out an indignant screech.

 _ **She is afraid that you will drop dead the moment she looks the other side.**_ Metagross translated in his mind.

Ash chuckled heartily. He really needed that. "Don't worry. Metagross here will make sure I stay in a single piece. Get yourself some fresh air. It's really okay."

Pidgeot seemed to buy that for a moment, before she squawked sharply towards Metagross, something that Ash inwardly translated to some kind of warning, before she hopped a few steps out of the garden, before spreading her vast wingspan out, and soared up into the heavens.

 _Look at her go._ Ash thought inwardly. To fly high up, so freely in the air. _The more I see, the more I realize why Bag—Shelgon is so adamant about it._

 _ **That was a risky thing to do, Ash. To summon the fallen king like you did, was not a casual deed. Your life could have been forfeit for that transgression.**_

 _I know._

 _ **And you did it anyway.**_

 _Yes._

 _ **Human rationality confuses me, since it lies so close to outright impulsiveness. A defect, in your circuitry, I believe.**_

Ash snorted at his friend's thoughts, as a picture came floating to his mind.

 _ **She is alive and well. She came with Steven to get you admitted over here.**_

 _Shiro- Cynthia was here? To get me here?_

 _ **Technically, it was the avian that brought you here. The rest of us just accompanied her. It is not… an intellectually correct decision to try counter an angry female, or so my awareness tells me.**_

Ash snorted at that, before the sensation suddenly vanished away. _What about-?_

 _ **The fallen king managed to drive the abomination away. The king then receded to the sea bed.**_

 _Wow… to think that the King possessed such power._ Briefly, Ash wondered just how powerful this… _Dark God_ entity must have been, to have literally tossed aside the king like that.

 _ **It is not a wise idea to speculate on the affairs of those in the distortion world, Ash. It is… not deemed as wise by the all-knowing ones.**_

 _You mean like yourself?_

 _ **Exactly.**_

 _So what is this distortion world anyway?_

 _ **A world where nothing is true and everything is real. Something that I am not willing to entertain questions about, right now.**_

 _What's that?_

 _ **That's a question.**_

 _Wiseass._

"I wonder where Harrison, or Misty might be…" He murmured.

 _ **You should contact the good professor.**_

 _Shit._

 _ **The human need for expletives never fail to astound me.**_

"Shut up." Ash grumbled. "I need to call home. Mom and Professor Oak must have heard about the explosion, and—and I need to call home right now." He slowly pushed up his left arm, as he activated the Xtransceiver.

He dialled Samuel Oak's number.

Ring.

Ring.

The screen lighted up.

* * *

 **Almost an hour later.**

"And that was all." Ash finished, his voice hoarse, as he completed the gargantuan task of explaining _everything_ that happened to his delirious mother and an equally concerned albeit slightly lucid Professor Oak—how he had met the _psychic_ at Commerce city and had an impromptu mockery of a pokémon battle, how he had gotten an _Absol_ of all pokémon, how Agatha of the Elite Four had made the rather disturbing comment, and how the matter had rolled on to meeting Derrick Stone, and the Head of the Devon Corp. alongside the former Hoenn Champion. Ash had gone ahead to explain how he and… the Sinnoh Champion had tried to save the hostages in the residential quarters, how he had fought off that Magmortar and the Team Rocket Executive, and how Harrison had saved his life. He had described how the _psychic_ had created an enormous draconic bomb, from where countless _Draco Meteors_ had erupted out, and how, a _King Dragonite_ had appeared out of nowhere, coming to their aid and apparently defeated the psychic, causing him to flee. He had conveniently omitted out the portion where he had, ignoring the possible ramifications of the act, summoned the King Dragonite to battle against the psychic.

By the end of it all, Delia Ketchum was a sobbing wreck, fallen to her eyes, her eyes literally glittering with tears as she allowed them to fall without concern. Samuel Oak, a man who had been through a lot, seemed absolutely shaken at Ash's account of the events that had conspired on that ship.

"Ash," Samuel spoke at last. "I believe, for your own betterment, as well your mother's sanity, you should return home, at least for a few weeks."

The funny thing was, Ash had seen it coming. "I will do that. However, I am too weak right now to even consider travelling, or even teleportation, considering that more than half of me is bandaged and on a wheel chair right now."

Delia, still on the floor, heard that statement, as she stood up, looking at the screen. "Then I will go there. There's no way I am going to leave you alone after all that has happened."

"Mom?" Ash asked softly. This was going to take a little more convincing. "I am perfectly fine now, and Nurse Joy says that my bandages can be removed in three days. Besides, I need to meet Steven—uh, the Deputy Champion as well as… the Sinnoh Champion. They were the ones that got me admitted here after all."

"But-"

Ash wasn't done speaking yet. "Also, I need to know about the other people on that ship. What happened to them, their pokémon? I need to know where Harrison is, or Misty, and Ritchie, and the others. We fought together, Mom. As selfish as that sounds, I cannot return home until I have at least, some of my answers."

"But Ash-"

"Having you here will not help matters, Mom. Besides, it will take you at least two days to arrive here anyway, even if you get started right now. I will be allowed to leave in three days, so I'll come home soon."

Oak arched an eyebrow. "Ash? What _exactly_ are you planning on doing there?"

Ash looked a tad embarrassed. "Am I that readable?"

"I have known you since you were a toddler." The old professor remarked. "You have much to learn before you can fool these eyes." He paused. "Also, _Bill Montgomery_ had contacted me, regarding a certain… _draconic mist_ event, as I am sure, you know. For some strange reason, Bill has the unshakeable belief that _you_ might have some _explaining_ to do."

 _Crap._

"Uh… what do you say we discuss about this later on?" Ash tried.

Samuel Oak gave him a hard stare. "I'll… hold you on to that."

Ash swallowed. "Sure thing."

"So," Oak asked, his voice a little more casual now, "What are you aiming to accomplish at Mirage Island?"

Ash grinned sheepishly. "I… kind of, wanted to visit the Forest of Illusions."

"WHAT?" Came the reply in unison.

"Ash Ketchum, you'll not be-", Delia began her tirade, before Ash gestured her to stop.

'Mom, I am in _Hoenn._ Whether by luck or not, I am _so close_ to one of Hoenn's most mysterious places, especially one abound with Ghost pokémon. I need one for my team to grow stronger."

"And how _exactly,_ are you going to defend yourself, if you face a hostile ghost?"

"Oh come on," Ash challenged. "I have Metagross with me, and Crawdaunt, and my new prized Absol. A psychic and two dark pokémon. I have enough to put forward a decent challenge."

"Ash Ketchum, if you are trying to convince me, I suggest you try a different explanation."

Ash sighed. "Please mom? I really, _really_ want to do this."

Delia stared at him, annoyed.

Ash stared back, with hope.

Delia sighed, looking away. "Very well, since you have proved that you will do what you want irrespective of my wishes, you leave me with no choice."

"Mom?" Ash pleaded, fearing that he had just provoked his mom's mythical anger. However, the next words that Delia Ketchum spoke were in anything but in rage.

"Get your Xtransceiver ready for reception. I am sending a pokémon."

But I already-"

"Shut up and do as I say, unless you want me to take more strenuous alternatives."

Ash wisely shut up, and switched on the reception gateway for accepting a pokeball. The device on his arm beeped several times, as a spark of electricity appeared at the entrance port, before manifesting into a pokeball. Wondering what it contained, Ash gently held it in his hand, before releasing the pokémon within.

A golden-brown, human-like fox pokémon with three fingers and toes on both arms and legs appeared in front of him. A tail protruded outward from the posterior end, in a bulb-like shape, not unlike the humanoid psychic Ash knew. Two long moustaches protruded out from the extremely large head that seemed overly large compared to the rest of its body. At the centre of the abdomen, there were three crimson marks that were supposed to mean something to the psi kind.

 _ **Midget. I feared having you away on your hopeless trip simply wouldn't be enough to keep you from interrupting upon my private time.**_

"Hello Kadabra!" Ash replied in a falsely-sweet tone, his left eye twitching.

Metagross hummed in amusement from behind.

Ash turned back to face the Xtransceiver. "Is this your idea of some kind of… retribution for making you worry?"

"Whatever do you mean, Ash?" Delia replied in the exact falsely-sweet tone that Ash had utilized a moment ago. "You are going into a region populated by Ghost pokémon. You need a psychic to aid you."

 _ **I am not the least insulted.**_ Metagross chimed in, into his mind.

Ash scowled. "Take that back, mom. Metagross is a perfectly good psychic."

Delia changed tracks real fast. "Oh, I'm sorry. Metagross. It wasn't anything personal against you. I simply meant having a psychic that could teleport him away to safety."

 _ **I agree, no harm done.**_

 _Whose bloody side are you on?_ Ash scowled inwardly.

 _ **It will be a good opportunity to hone my skills from an experienced all-knowing one.**_

 _Traitor._ Ash thought, before glancing back at his mom. "Alright, have it your way. I'll keep Kadabra with me, but I take no responsibility if the Ghosts of the forests decide to keep him there forever, entranced by his _winning personality._

 _ **You should know that a Kadabra never forgets, midget. I have explicitly perspicuous memories of the one hundred and seventy three offences you have committed against my person. This constitutes the one hundred and seventy-fourth one.**_

"So speaking the truth is an offence now?" Ash retorted angrily.

"They seem to get along famously." Samuel noted, though it was hard, not to see the amused glint in his eye.

"Not you too." Ash repented.

"Now listen," Delia spoke in her instructor-voice. "You are to keep Kadabra on your person at all times. I don't care where you might be, the moment you feel you are in danger, teleport away. Is that understood?"

"Yes. Mom." Ash replied in a resigned tone.

"Kadabra, please take good care of my son."

Kadabra just made a gesture of agreement.

"All right then." Delia replied. "Take care of yourself, Ash."

Beep. The call disconnected, as Ash let out a sigh.

 _ **So midget, aren't you going to introduce me to your little band of merry men?**_

A sudden squawk attracted the psi pokémon's attention, as Pidgeot was visible soaring in the sky, flying at speeds literally unimaginable.

 _ **-and women, of course.**_

* * *

The sight was a strange one. Ash Ketchum, the fourteen-year-old trainer, all bandaged up and tied to a wheelchair, was the sole human in the entire area. Metagross had levitated Ash (on his wheelchair) all the way to a cliff nearby, a place where he could call out all of his pokémon, without disturbing the natural ambience of the Pokémon center, while at the same time, not breaking any of the Nurse's rules, since he was barely a kilometre away, and could teleport back using Kadabra anytime he wanted.

So that was how Ash Ketchum, the temporarily-handicapped fourteen-year-old, found himself staring at the pokémon who were all, now a part of his team. Shelgon, large, round and hard, was standing on the ground, with Charmander just beside him, wagging his tail every now and then. Next, was Poliwhirl, uncomfortable with the tail-flame that drew too close for comfort at times. Pidgeot, large and mighty, stood on the ground, her sharp eyes staring hard at the new pokémon that had abruptly joined their group. Ash had the sneaking suspicion that after being so _small_ for all this time, Pidgeot was milking her new size for all it was worth.

On the other end, Metagross hummed softly, levitating in the air like always, his iron legs never reaching the hard ground. Rhydon, snorting now and then, rubbing his foot claws upon the hard ground, with Lairon next to him, following the larger rock-type in the manner a little brother follows his elder's footsteps. That, and trying to dig a hole into the hard ground with the armour on its face.

Gyarados, had coiled around itself, somehow maintaining a height _taller_ than Pidgeot, for reasons that Ash couldn't _possibly_ fathom, and finally, there was Crawdaunt, who was too busy striking on Shelgon's hard shell for fun, checking out the truth behind the nigh impenetrable defense of the dragon pokémon.

All of his original team were facing the newcomer who seemed to look at them with varying degrees of curiosity.

"Hey guys, this is Kadabra, and he's…" Ash frowned slightly before continuing, "my mother's pokémon."

 _ **And your babysitter.**_ Kadabra must have repeated the same thing aloud in his natural tongue, considering the various degrees of amusement on the other's faces.

"For those of you, who do not know what happened…" Ash began softly, "the ship was attacked by… a strange psychic pokémon."

 _ **I'm sure that psychic is a pretty… inadequate way of describing one such as myself.**_

Ash's face turned absolute pale with shock, as every single eye on the cliff looked upwards. There, floating in the sky, without a care in the world, was the strange psychic pokémon who had attacked the St. Anne. Almost instantly, Metagross appeared right above Ash, his appendages glowing a bright blue, and even Kadabra looked anxious, his silver spoon and ready for anything this… _stupidly strong_ pokémon might have to throw against them. Pidgeot, who realised the stranger as well, squawked out indignantly, spreading her wingspan. The sheer amount of animosity amongst Ash and the three pokémon was enough for the others to get a rough idea, and stand guard, ready to battle and protect their trainer at any cost.

The strange humanoid pokémon suddenly drifted down towards the ground.

 _ **Do you usually get so antagonistic towards anyone who interrupts your speeches, Ash Ketchum?**_

"What do you want?" Ash gnashed his teeth. He wondered if the King Dragonite would listen to his summons without deciding to kill him this time. Either way, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 _ **Relax. I'm not an expert but you look fairly fragile to me.**_

 _Yeah, and who's to blame for that?_ Ash thought sardonically, as he felt a surge of amusement flit through his mind.

 _ **I'm here to make small conversation, Ash Ketchum. Or if I be direct, to thank you for your contribution.**_

"What- what are you talking about?" Ash replied in confusion.

" _ **You gave me a gift I haven't ever received. A real challenger with a power as great as my own. I must confess, even my partner hasn't gifted me with something this… enjoyable.**_

Ash didn't even want to know how this… monster's mind worked.

Mewtwo felt amused. _**I do not like to be in anyone's debt, Ash Ketchum. I hope your bird likes the gift I gave her.**_

Ash widened his eyes, as Pidgeot screeched indignantly. "You—you forced her to evolve?"

Mewtwo seemed to give the psychic counterpart of a shrug. _**You were falling to your death, and I couldn't afford to let you die. You are a source of my amusements, after all. So, I decided to gift you in return.**_

"By forcing Pidgeotto to evolve, against her own volition?" Ash snarled, as he felt a surge of annoyance coming from the psychic in front of him.

 _ **I… set her free. All those bonds, all those constraints, I let them lose. Your bird is now at the apex of what she could have become, should she be able to harness all her talents to the superlative degree. I like to think… a moment of pain is too less for something like that.**_

"You had no right to do it, just like you had no right to destroy the ship. We have no quarrel with you."

Mewtwo tilted his head in curiosity. _**An ant, has no quarrel with a boot.**_

 _Are you planning to step on us?_

Mewtwo smiled behind the armour.

"Who are you, anyway?" Ash couldn't help but ask. Should he want it, Ash and his pokémon would be dead before they knew it. Since they were not _dead yet,_ he would have to assume that he and his pokémon would continue to live and breathe. Thus, there was no reason not to try a conversation. Maybe he could get answers to his questions.

 _ **My name… is Mewtwo.**_

"Mew-two?" Ash repeated.

 _ **Correct, but you don't care about any of it.**_ Mewtwo drifted closer to Ash, who felt an incredible urge to try running away.

Almost instantly, every single pokémon close enough to Ash sprang towards Mewtwo, ready to kill the obviously potent threat to their trainer-

And then froze in mid-air.

 _ **That was dramatic.**_ Mewtwo looked up at the pokémon floating all around him, trapped inside locks of his own design. They would hear, they could see, they could feel, but they couldn't move. No matter how hard they tried.

 _ **I'm sorry. I know you mean well. You just… didn't think it through.**_

And every single pokémon began to wail in absolute and utter agony.

"STOP IT!" Ash screamed, getting off his wheelchair, losing his coordination and falling on the hard ground, as he crawled over towards Mewtwo. "Please… don't hurt them. Hurt me if you want, but not them."

Mewtwo's smile deepened as he lifted his head up, as the pokémon stopped their screams, dropping them unceremoniously on the ground. A bluish aura surrounded Ash, lifting him up from the ground, back into the comfort of the wheelchair.

 _ **As I was saying before being so… rudely interrupted, you don't care about who I am. I am waiting for your other question.**_

Mewtwo floated closer.

 _ **Go ahead, Ash Ketchum… ask it.**_

"Why did you let me go?" Ash murmured. It was something he had been thinking all this while. "Especially if you knew that I summoned the King to battle against you?"

 _ **Are you suggesting that I kill you and end your legacy for good?**_

Ash gulped.

Mewtwo's smiled deepened.

"I just want to know, why you did, what you did."

Mewtwo felt amused. This boy, was truly worth keeping alive, for entertainment's sake if nothing else.

 _ **Because Ash Ketchum… I believe your destiny is to join me.**_

 _My… what?_

 _ **I am not going to repeat it.**_

 _I….._ "I will never join the likes of you. You murder, kill and torture for fun."

 _ **Do you think, Ash Ketchum, that you are strong enough to fight your destiny? Fight me?**_

Ash swallowed. He was past caring now. "No." He confessed. "Me, my pokémon… none of us are able to stand against you now. But I will grow stronger. I will create the greatest team of pokémon in the world, and together, we will fight Team Rocket, fight you, and defeat you. And then…" Ash slowly pushed himself up, ignoring the pain in his legs as he did. "I'll _capture_ you."

 _ **I am not sure whether to be amused or irritated by your audacity, Ash Ketchum. You have the gall to believe that my defeat is comprehensible, let alone possible.**_

Silence pervaded the entire area before Mewtwo spoke again.

 _ **Out of respect for your previous deeds, I will allow you one opportunity to explain why you foolishly believe such a travesty may even come to pass.**_

Ash stood straight, ignoring the _strange_ sensation he felt in his knees. "I have been training for merely a month, and yet, I was able to summon the King to fight against you. Imagine what I can with a year under my belt."

 _ **Very well, Ash Ketchum. One year you have. One year to prove your worth. Then, I'll come for you.**_

And then Mewtwo was gone.

* * *

The moment _Mewtwo_ disappeared, Ash Ketchum lost his somehow garnered strength as he fell back upon the wheelchair, his wounds burning with increased intensity for having done what he… what he did.

 _ **I do not think… that a single year of training is anywhere good enough time to face that creature, Ash.**_

Ash didn't bother to answer Metagross in the head. "What else was I supposed to do? At least I bought ourselves a year worth of time. We have trained, and grown strong in less than a month. We managed to reach the Top-4, and could've possibly won the tournament if not for my own deficiencies."

He looked around at each and every pokémon that stood before him. "I'll not make the same mistakes again. We will train harder, and we will become the strongest."

 _ **I must say, Midget. I didn't think you had it in you.**_

Ash grinned at the Kadabra. "You ain't seen anything yet." All of his pokémon were on the ground, with some of them, like Poliwhirl and Charmander, still panting from the acute pain caused by Mewtwo's psychic locks. "Guys, that pain you are feeling. That is nothing compared to the real power that… Mewtwo wields. To fight him, I need you all to become powerful. However," his voice lowered slightly. "I wouldn't ask you to do that on my behalf. If anyone doesn't want to participate in this, they are free to leave. I won't stop you."

Metagross seemed to give him an accurate representation of what every single pokémon wanted to do to him. Using a slight amount of his power, he whacked Ash in the head.

"Oww!" Ash rubbed his head absently, before chuckling. "Thanks guys. Your support means a lot to me."

He paused, gathering his words. "There's… just one more thing I need to do, before we return. Our newest addition to our team…. When we all reached the Top-4, we won her as a prized pokémon. I hope you shall treat her properly." He lifted up Absol's pokeball from his belt and released her, the red light condensing into the white-furred feline creature that growled softly, staring at the pokémon surrounding it, as if trying to gauge their intentions.

"They won't attack you," Ash replied slowly, looking at Absol squarely in the eye. "All of them are my pokémon."

Absol stared back at Ash, her crimson eyes seemingly staring into his soul.

 _Damn, this is odd._ Ash decided. He was used to fighting wild pokémon and capturing them, before talking to them about what they thought about joining him as their trainer. However, Absol _already knew_ that she was Ash's pokémon, despite never having fought Ash in a battle, or judged his competency as a trainer in any shape or form. At least, Lairon didn't seem all that… intelligent to have those questions, and was easy to handle- an advantage that he didn't think he'd get with Absol.

"I… am Ash Ketchum." He slowly tried to stand up, before a psychic-push from Metagross pushed him back into the chair. "Sorry, I am a little wounded and… Metagross here doesn't want to strain myself. I... didn't really get the chance to introduce myself to you back then at the party, so… I'll try to do that here."

Absol didn't even _shift_ a single muscle, and simply stared calculatingly at Ash.

 _This is really not my thing._ Ash confirmed to himself. Note to self- winning pokémon in a battle is bad business. Try not to do that again, Ketchum.

"I… I just need to say that, I wish to thank you for your contribution." Ash let out, and was somewhat surprised to see a change in Absol's expression. It was almost like she had been caught off-guard with his statement.

"I confess I don't really know much about Absol in general, but Steven- he's the former Hoenn Champion, he told me how Absol predicted disasters in advance. After you showed up, we got a little time to prepare ourselves for the attack on the ship. I don't even want to consider what would have happened had we all been caught unaware."

Absol growled softly.

"So… I just want to thank you for warning us in advance." Ash stressed. "That said, you agreed to become a part of the winner's pokémon team. I qualified as the second runner-up and would really like you to become a part of this team."

Absol took a step back.

"Though, if you do not wish to do so, I can also battle against you to prove my might as a trainer."

Absol tilted her head, as if considering the offer. Then, she grunted out challengingly.

Ash grinned. "Very well. I choose-"

 _ **Let me.**_

Ash was awestruck, as he registered _who it was_ that had interrupted him. Taking a single step forward from his position, before quickly teleporting in front of Ash, to stare back at the growling Absol, was Kadabra.

 _You aren't my pokémon, Kadabra._ Ash tried. _My mom simply let me-_

 _ **Delia sent me here for a multitude of reasons, midget. Now will you let me battle him on your behalf or not?**_

Ash frowned, before settling on a decision. _Fine._

 _ **Good. Watch and learn.**_

 _I'm watching._ Ash thought back, somewhat amused. Meanwhile, Metagross levitated him backwards, away from the main battle.

Absol growled, before suddenly charging ahead towards the Kadabra, her horn glowing bright pink. She waved her horn in an arc, sending a powerful psycho cut towards Kadabra, who just teleported, appearing right behind her back, and shot a shadow ball at her—

Only for Absol to deflect it away with a slash of her horn.

Kadabra let out an angry growl, before focussing on his spoon, creating a psychic trap around Absol, only for Absol to leap out of it with frightening ease, before sending a fill-powered shadow ball back at Kadabra, who teleported again to its back.

This time however, Absol's entire body began to glow with an ethereal energy, which began to radiate out of her body. Ash could feel Kadabra slightly stiffen as the energy coursed past him.

 _ **The void-user feline cursed your friend.**_ Metagross explained in his mind.

Kadabra growled again, as his eyes glowed an angry blue, but Absol was already a blur in the air. Suddenly, Kadabra stiffened before his eyes lost the angry shade in them, as his knees sunk down to the ground, revealing Absol who was standing behind him.

"Absol is the winner." Ash declared. "Kadabra, please remove yourself out of the battleground."

The Kadabra gave him a nasty glare, before teleporting away, only to reappear by Metagross's side, before drooping again.

"I'm going to return you back to your pokeball, Kadabra." Ash replied with a sigh, recalling the psi pokémon back into his pokeball. Then, he turned towards the dark creature before him. "That was a fantastic battle. You sure as powerful."

Absol grunted back, challengingly.

"Very well. Pidgeot, time for you to shine."

Pidgeot let out a wild screech, as she spread her wingspan, her sheer size causing Absol to step back in caution. The avian then took to the skies, while the other pokémon, knowing very well what was to come, jumped back towards Ash and Metagross, who put in a psychic shield, protecting everyone from the incoming wrath of the female avian.

Absol sent a powerful psycho-cut towards the avian, who easily dodged it, before literally vanishing, appearing right behind Absol, who somehow managed to escape her tackle attack. With the avian repeating the same move over and over, Absol's eyes begun to glow as she utilized double-team, but Pidgeot, had other ideas.

With the maelstrom of power in her wings, Pidgeot summoned a powerful twister, one that was at least a dozen times more powerful than anything she had ever created before as a Pidgeotto, literally sweeping Absol off her limbs, as the dark-type began to get sucked into the twister and got swept around like waste-paper. Her wings shining like steel, Pidgeot slammed into the twister, striking a perfect steel wing on Absol, who then fell to the ground, completely spent and defeated.

Metagross propelled the wheelchair forward, so that Ash could reach Absol, who had somehow managed to get up, though she was barely standing, as she grunted back at Ash.

"Do you think you can be a part of my team? Play well with everyone, train with everyone, and become the most powerful Absol in the world?"

Absol let out a soft growl in agreement.

Ash grinned. "Welcome to the team then, I guess." He lifted up the ultraball. "I am going to recall you now. After getting to the pokémon center, we will get you treated. Is that… fine by you?"

Absol shook her head.

Without a second word, Ash simply returned her. "I guess that makes her a full-fledged member of our team." All of his pokémon made their agreement known in a cacophony of grunts, growls and roars.

* * *

"Steven!"

Ash stared at the man excitedly, somehow managing to keep sitting on his wheelchair, as he witnessed the man talking to Nurse Joy from afar. He had been levitated all the way from the cliff back to the Center by a helpful Metagross, the rest of his pokémon now returned inside their respective pokeballs.

"Ash!" The former Hoenn Champion replied, ecstatic at seeing the young man who had been instrumental in their survival against the overwhelming odds presented at that night. He was a former Champion, and had a fellow Champion and Elite Four members with him, and yet, if not for this fourteen-year-old, someone with barely a month of experience under his belt, they would have become a shade of the past, listed as one of the many deaths in the tragedy of St. Anne.

Steven walked towards the young man tied to the wheelchair, a smile floating on his face. "Nurse Joy said that you were already out and training in less than an hour of being comatose for days."

"Have to make up for the loss, don't I?" Ash returned cheekily.

Steven grumbled something about 'overzealous teenagers', making Ash grin. "How are you doing?"

"Enough to have a battle with my newest pokémon, and also," his face darkened, "have a one-on-one conversation with Mew… the psychic who destroyed St. Anne."

Steven paled. "The…. The psychic?"

"His name is Mewtwo." Ash replied, "and he knew that…" he paused, before deciding that there was no point in hiding the truth, "—that I was the one who summoned the King Dragonite."

Steven opened his mouth, and closed it. "I had suspicions, that you might have had something to do with it. Was that why you….?" He trailed off, unsure how to speak about the entire thing.

Ash grinned mirthlessly. "I thought… that I would be killed for attempting such a thing. I'm still not sure how I managed to survive."

"I'm just happy that you did. Balls to how." Steven spoke, before looking embarrassed at his use of an expletive in front of a youngster. Then again, considering what they had been through, the use of the expletive didn't even count.

Ash chuckled.

"Considering that you aren't… you know, charred and lying in a ditch somewhere, I presume that this… Mewtwo had a reason for letting you stay alive?"

"For entertainment's sake." Ash returned darkly.

"Excuse me?" Steven narrowed his eyes.

"He said that he… was rather exhilarated at finding a worthy foe to fight against. Because I was the one who summoned it, he thought that it was something worth giving me a prize." Ash replied bitterly. "In case you are wondering, when I was falling into that steel trap, Mewtwo forced my Pidgeotto to evolve… uh, more than just evolve actually, so that she might be able to save my life."

"Ash… that's- I mean-"

"Beyond reason? Incomprehensible?" Ash supplied.

"Both." Steven sighed. "I had wondered, why… well, I'm not really supposed to speak of this to you, so consider it a testament to my trust on you, your Pidgeotto, it seemed, didn't just evolve. She… mega-evolved."

"Mega-evolved? Like… mega-evolution?"

Steven looked aback. "For someone as young as you are, Ash Ketchum, you are dangerously well-informed."

"I try." Ash deadpanned. "Professor Oak mentioned it when he gave me Bagon as my starter."

"The Shelgon, right." Steven realized. "Their final form, Salamence, are one of the most powerful dragons in the world. The mega-forms, even more so." He paused. "Wait, what _exactly_ do you know about Mega-Evolution?"

"That they can evolve further than their final forms?" Ash clarified.

Steven sighed. "Incorrect, or rather, inadequate. Put it this way, while Pidgeotto would, in time, evolve into a Pidgeot, and is it guaranteed that _all_ of her abilities, traits and skills would reach their maximum potential?"

"Umm…. No?"

"No." Steven confirmed. "There are… certain genes that remain immature, despite the final evolution stage. Say, if Pidgeotto evolved into a Pidgeot, and all of her abilities, both dormant and not, were to mature with it, she would be powerful, right?"

"Very."

"Well, that's what Mega-evolution does for you. For a moment, it activates every single trait, dormant or not, in a fully-evolved pokémon. Doing so brings certain… physiological changes to its appearance, which we call, _mega-evolved state._ This happens by force, through the infusion of spiritual essence of the trainer into the pokémon with the help of a meganite key-stone pair. "

"I thought we humans had very less spiritual essences, if at all."

Steven opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I should ask you how in hell you know that, but I-I'll just put it in the list of things that come under _Ash Ketchum list of possibilities."_ —Ash snorted- "Yes, we have a weak essence, and hence, cannot maintain this… perfect, mega-evolved state of a pokémon for more than say… a few minutes at most, without losing consciousness. It goes without saying that the better the bonding between the pokémon and trainer, the easier it is."

Ash thought about it for a moment.

"If what you said about Pidgeot is right, then… Mewtwo must have poured in a colossal amount of energy into her, forcing each and every single trait in her constitution to activate all at once, triggering her evolution into her _perfect_ stage, only it was permanent for her." Steven paused. "Pshew! A _permanent_ mega-evolution. The researchers will be talking about this for years."

Ash frowned. "She was in a lot of pain."

"I bet she was." Steven agreed. "Mega-evolution is often painful, even for those, who mega-evolve with their trainer's essence temporarily. The shift in genetics and physiology is a painful thing."

"Do you… you know, have any pokémon that can mega-evolve? Can your Metagross?"

Steven smirked. "You'd like to know that, wouldn't you?"

"I cannot wait for Shelgon to evolve." Ash grinned.

"You might have to wait for a while. Dragon-rearing is a difficult task."

"You can say that again." Ash muttered.

Steven chuckled at his antics, before his face turned solemn. "Returning to the topic, what did you talk about?"

"Nothing really." Ash looked away, not wanting to lie to Steven on his face.

"Ash? I have displayed my trust in you. Shouldn't you be returning the same?"

Ash looked back at Steven, feeling slightly guilty, comprehending the former Champion's words. "He… gave me an offer."

Steven arched an eyebrow. He sure, hadn't seen that one coming. "Which is?"

"Join him."

"Join him…" Steven repeated blankly, "as in… Team Rocket?"

Ash looked up. "I… don't think so. He might be working with Team Rocket, for whatever reasons that might be. But… it feels like they are simply the means of an end to him. Nothing more."

"That's valuable insight you have gathered." Steven observed. "What else?"

"He said… he said that it is my destiny to join him. That, he and I are… alike. Strange likenesses."

"Strange." The former Champion muttered his thoughts aloud. "For someone who is a pokémon, this psychic is certainly quite… complex."

"I… will have to disagree with that statement."

Steven looked at him challengingly. "Well, go ahead? You are the expert on all things, Mewtwo."

Ash chuckled at that description. For a moment, he wondered what the psychic's reaction would've been to that. Instantly vanishing away the nasty thought, he returned to conversation. "I think that…. That he is a very powerful being, one that _believes_ in his own superiority. As long as you acknowledge that, he is ready to let you be."

"Interesting." Steven observed. "So, you did acknowledge his superiority?"

Ash laughed mirthlessly. "Actually, I challenged him."

"What?" Steven yelled. "Are you batshit insane? How are you still alive?"

"I… told him that given a year, I will be strong enough to fight Team Rocket and end it, that… that I will capture him."

Steven smacked his own face with both palms. "Ash… please tell me this is a joke? Why on earth would you do that?"

"Because I will."

Had it been any other person, Steven would have simply smacked him in the head until he came to his senses. However, this wasn't just anyone. This young man… had faced the might of Articuno and lived. He had faced the wrath of a King Dragon and yet had the sheer courage to summon him, even at the cost of his own life to save hundreds of strangers. If anyone could do it, it would be Ash Ketchum.

"I… see." Steven replied slowly. "That's quite a level of accomplishment you have set yourself against then. Most starting out trainers look to getting past the top-8 of the Indigo League."

Ash laughed. "What can I say? I rather like being an overachiever."

Steven smacked him in the head.

"Oww." Ash rubbed his head absently. "What was that for?"

"For being a smart-ass." Steven retorted. "For the record, you scared the shit out of us. Cynthia was almost beside herself."

"She… was?"

Steven arched an eyebrow. "You… do realize that the Sinnoh Champion has the hots for you? Particularly after you saved her life, multiple times, I may add?"

 _Huh?_ Ash thought.

"Huh?" Ash said.

Steven cracked up. "Sometimes it's easy to forget that you are just a teen, Ash." He chuckled again. "Anyway, she has been a little… engrossed with the entire thing, considering that there were several trainers from Sinnoh in the ship as well."

"Oh." Ash muttered, thinking once again about the loss of life in the tragedy.

"Lance isn't much better." Steven muttered. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but before the…. Mewtwo, appeared in front of St. Anne, he fought Lance."

"Lance? He fought Mewtwo?"

"More like forced to fight." The deputy Champion answered solemnly. "From what he told me, he and his team had been ambushed by Executive Pierce of Team Rocket, but then this psychic… Mewtwo came in. He killed the entirety of Lance's team by snapping their heads off, and he did it without lifting a finger." Steven paused, "then, he challenged Lance to a battle, and killed his Charizard."

Ash looked aghast. "Charizard? _Lance's Charizard?"_ That was the pokémon that Ash had grown up loving, the pokémon that had inspired Ash's wish to have his own team of dragons. Charizard was… dead?

"Lance said that Mewtwo… played with Charizard for a while, before forcing his tail flame to extinguish. Charizard…. He died a horrible death."

No one spoke a word, but the pain was shared between them in the silence.

"Lance wasn't…" Steven spoke after a while, "he was delirious, clinging to Charizard and screaming when we found him. Apparently, Mewtwo believes in… reciprocation, like he did with your Pidgeot. He did the same with Lance."

"I… what do you mean?"

"Pierce had a draconic pokémon known as Hydreigon. They are from a distant land known as Unova. Hydreigon are… very powerful, greater than Dragonite, and can be a powerful threat to Salamence most of the time."

Ash widened his eyes at the mere thought. A dragon even more powerful than Lance's Dragonite?

"Yes." Steven answered. "He said that he would reciprocate, and so, captured Pierce's Hydreigon—it was illegally caught anyway- with the pokeball that belonged to Charizard, as a replacement for the dead pokémon."

"I…." Ash had no words.

"No need to say anything. I understand. Cynthia mentioned on passing that you are… quite the fan of Lance and his team."

Ash nodded absently.

"Speaking of which, the pokeball we found on you- did you snatch it from a grunt or something?" Steven asked, changing the conversation.

"Uh, no—I found it underwater, when I was- you know-"

"Doing the impossible—yeah. I get it."

"-yeah." Ash looked sheepish. "It kind 'a, floated near me, and I caught it."

Steven laughed. "Only you, Ash Ketchum. Only you."

"Nurse Joy told me that it is… exotic, and she didn't know anything except that it is a dark-type."

Steven smirked. "That… is true. Considering your contribution, and you yourself in general, Cynthia and me were in agreement that this… exotic pokémon should belong to you. Think of it as a personal thank-you gift for saving my ass the other day, kid."

"A… gift?" Ash repeated. "But what's the pokémon inside it?"

Steven smirked. "It is a pokémon on Lance's team as well. I'll tell you that much, though… considering that Team Rocket captured it, I wouldn't release it now if I were you. If you train it well, someday it will be a great addition to your team."

"Thanks…" Ash mumbled, his mind literally boggled. "Say… do you know anything about the others? Misty? Harrison? And the rest?"

Steven frowned. "I do know for a fact that Miss Waterflower has safely returned to Cerulean. The rest, I will have to check the present records to inquire. As for Harrison… I do know that he left on his Blastoise. Told me something about getting to his home town."

"Little root Town, that's-"

"I know." Steven interrupted. "I sent a message to Professor Birch, but his reply was negative. Harrison has yet to report to him. I don't know if he went directly to his home or-"

"His Arcanine is at Professor Oak's coral." Ash interrupted this time. "He gave it to me to send it there, because the center was closed. Just before the…. Fight. He wouldn't just forget about it."

"You are right." Steven muttered. "He wouldn't. Tell you what? I'll run some checks. See if he's run into something, or fallen ill? Maybe he got hurt during the battle and didn't realize it? Hoenn's a rather large place you know? Much larger than Kanto. Speaking of which, are you returning home after getting all patched up? Or has our beautiful Hoenn attracted your attention enough to hang around for a while?"

Ash frowned. "I… will be staying for a week or so. I was planning to visit the Forest of Illusions."

"A ghost hunter." Steven whistled. "Well, I can't blame you. Got my Aegislash from there as well when she was a Doublade."

"Aegislash?" Ash repeated.

"She's… an exotic pokémon. I have no idea what she was doing in the forest, never told me, that trickster."

Ash frowned. "What can you tell me about the Forest?"

"Hmmm…." Steven mused, dropping to his knees to be at Ash's height. "The forest has a rich diversity of ghosts, and is covered with a dense fog all year round, and people going in, and never coming out are… a natural thing over there."

Ash gulped. "You are… joking, right?"

"No." Steven deadpanned. "You are talking about Ghost pokémon here, kid. What did you think Ghosts would be like? Invite you to a room full of toys?"

Ash rolled his eyes. That was a ludicrous thought.

"Ghost pokémon are dangerous for a reason, Ash. They revel in the pain and fear of others. They aren't evil, it's simply… the way there are created. To be a ghost trainer isn't an easy job. After all, Agatha is the _only_ Ghost-Mistress in Kanto and Johto over the last thirty years."

Ash raised his eyebrows. Now that, was something he had no idea about.

"Being a ghost-master is perhaps the most difficult things a trainer can accomplish in life. In fact, after all is said and done, you wouldn't even consider it an accomplishment. You do know about Agatha's nickname, right?"

"The revenant crone." Ash whispered.

"There are reasons why she's called so, always remember that." Steven replied in a small voice.

"Anyways," the former champion raised his voice, wanting to neutralize the depression the conversation had created, "if you wish to get yourself a ghost, go do that. But… make sure that you have dark-types around. Your Absol, should aid you there. Having psychic types ain't a bad idea either, if they are good with instant teleportation." He paused, "also, hire a Hoothoot from the village before you enter the forest. That way, you have better chances of walking out, maybe even with a captured ghost under your belt."

"Hoothoot?" Ash repeated.

"Owl pokémon. Check them out on the Pokedex." Steven explained. "Pretty useful, I tell you."

"Err… right." Ash replied thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you do that. Don't forget. Dark-types, and a Hoothoot, and use one of those ultraballs. Pretty good catch rate than the standard balls, and-oh right, I knew I was forgetting something." Steven face palmed again. "Your trainer page. Do check it out when you get time, and then there's…. this." He handed him a magnetic disc, one that Ash knew instinctively well.

"A Flash Cannon TM, specifically made for Metagross. Before you leave for the forest, make sure to train your Metagross in this. You might need it."

"….This…"

"Yeah, yeah, you are welcome." Steven smirked, enjoying the look on the boy's face. "And remember, the dear Cynthia Shirona might appear over here by tomorrow or the day after. So don't go running away to the forest before you get to meet her."

"Uh… right."

* * *

 **AN: And that was it. I know it was pretty much filler, but the next arc of the Forest of Illusions is going to be up there pretty soon. Yeah, I know, I took the Hoothoot and forest of Johto concept and put it there. Still, I hope you will be pretty surprised with the changes that I have planned. And do try to guess what the mystery pokémon in the pokeball is. Also, what do you think of the Mega-evolution lore here?**

* * *

 **AN 2: The 'revenant crone' is inspired from 'Traveller', the fic that actually inspired me to try my own hand at writing pokémon fanfiction. Also yes, Pidgeot MEGA-EVOLVED, like PERMANENTLY. How? Ask Mewtwo. He's the one with Mew's genetics and with the power to pull it off. Last time I checked, Mew's the one with all the crazy life-returning powers and all that. A forced, permanent mega-evolution seems pretty low-key stuff compared to that.**

* * *

 **AN 3: Also, I'd like to say that I am rather flattered with the reaction I got over the completion of the St. Anne arc. I am very humbled and grateful. I will, also take this moment to answer the questions raised in the reviews. In case I missed something, do let me know.**

 **Master balls? Absolutely.**

 **How long am I planning for this fic? Personally, I have planned past the Indigo League, and that is going to cross 400k before that comes to pass. Hopefully, I will have planned for the next segment after that.**

 **To SuicidalManiac, Thanks for the suggestion. As you can see, I have improved the chapter summary. Do tell me what you think about it.**

 **The Legendaries being too powerful? Well, they kind of are. Wouldn't really fit the 'ever and eternal' theme if they weren't, would they? The legendaries in canon were overhyped pokémon who could be brought to line by good, old thunder shock by Gigavolt Pikachu. Not happening here.**

 **Will the first pokémon movie part be there in this fic? Certainly. A lot of my plot points are based on that one single arc. I guarantee you it will a lot better than the St. Anne. I had it planned, and changed, and re-planned, and changed, and… Uhm… you get the idea.**

 **Do I sleep at all? I do. It's almost 1:30 AM at my place. I do believe I will get 5 hours of shut eye before I leave for work. I will start the next chapter tomorrow evening.**

* * *

 **P.S. Anyone who thinks he/she can be a good sounding board for my pokémon fic, help me with grammar checks and stuff, and would be able to deal with my ridiculous update schedule- in short, be a Beta without committing suicide by the end of the week, please send me a PM. Thank you.**

 **Okay, that was all. If you think you liked the chapter, please put in a review. It means a lot to me. I assure you I read** _ **each and every review AT LEAST TWICE.**_


	15. History

The trees on either side, swung helplessly as the chopper blades revolved powerfully, the gale enough to push a herd of Rhydon backwards. An executive got out of the chopper, staring at the several groups of grunts, all of them holding an Umbreon each, the dark-types having a collar attached to their necks, waiting for orders.

"Executive Birch!" One of the men said.

The executive scowled, as he took a single step forward before swinging his large fist over the grunt's unfortunate face, making the man spin around and fall to his face, blood splattered over his mouth, and a few teeth broken by the looks of it.

"It's Butch, you fuck'r. Butch, remember that if you wanna live."

"Sorry, sir." The grunt trembled as he apologised, somehow managing to stand up.

"Yeah, and I don't wanna see that splattered blood wiped off from ya'r face. Be like that for the entire operation. Is that understood?"

"Ye- yes, sir."

"Now, go, get me the good stuff."

The grunts gave him a salute, before leaving the spot, and entering into the depths of the forest. Butch wiped off the blood in his knuckles, as he plucked out his pokeballs, releasing the pokémon out in advance. Given the importance of the mission, he might just need them.

The lights ceased and in front of him, stood several Houndoom, a large Drapion, his best buddy Magmortar, and a single Dusclops. He had a Zweilous on him too, but the little blighter got lost in the battle of the ship when he had fallen down into the waters, no thanks to that snot-nosed brat. Either way, the ones he had on him were more than enough to deal with the incoming mess.

He took out a single phone, dialling a number.

"Have you reached?" came a calm, calculated voice on the other end.

"Yes, boss. The grunts are sent to get what we want."

"Good. I have no interest in the others. Get me the Phantumps."

"But sir, the evolved ones have quite the teeth on them." Butch tried.

"Don't make me repeat myself. I need Phantumps. Anything other, I have no interest. Enjoy your call."

And with that, the call disconnected.

"Damn!" Butch muttered, shaking his fist in empty air. Well at least, I get to capture the others for me-self!"

* * *

 **Mirage Island Pokémon Center.**

 **The origins of our beautiful land, Hoenn are shrouded in the very depths of the amazing powers and mysteries associated with the very Legendaries whose presence has blessed this region for eons. In fact, its origins are very closely tied with the Sinnoh mainland north of Hoenn, a region which shares with our own, its diversity, history and myths.**

 **Legends say that eons ago, there was a cataclysmic battle between the Groudon, the Lord of the land, and Kyogre, the lady of the seas. Some scriptures say that Kyogre could call upon the rain at will, and created the beautiful sea that now surrounds Hoenn, while Groudon, woken up from its slumber, called upon the sun, heated the earth, expanded it to create the continent on which we live and love.**

 **It is believed that Groudon and Kyogre, being manifestation of opposing forces, are always at a state of war with each other. During their last battle, Groudon and Kyogre underwent a massive change-the reason for which is merely speculation at this point—to transform into their Primal selves. Primal Groudon, and Primal Kyogre.**

 **The cataclysmic battle that raged was almost about to obliterate the entire world, before the third and the balancing segment of Hoenn's Weather trio, the legendary sky-high dragon known as Rayquaza, whose abode is supposed to be somewhere in the ionosphere, came down to end the clash.**

 **It is not exactly known how long the battle between them lasted, but at the end of it, Rayquaza was able to stop them both, sending both Groudon and Kyogre into slumber inside a cavern, now famous as the Cave of Origin. The location of the cave is a matter of speculation, though researchers and archaeologists have yet to figure out any specific clues to that end.**

"I see that the book has pretty much captured your interest."

Ash looked up from the book in hand. He had gotten the rather old, somewhat ragged copy of an old edition of _Hoenn: Myths and Legends,_ from the Pokémon center. Considering that his wounds were still hurting, Nurse Joy had instructed him to stay inside the center for the day. With what had happened the previous day at the cliff, it hadn't taken too much for Ash to agree with that sentiment.

"Yeah, I never knew that books could be interesting." Ash chuckled, glancing at the frown on the nurse's face. "I never much liked books to begin with, preferring battle simulations over them any time." He paused, looking at the patched-up book in his hand, "however, I never knew that there were books on legendary pokémon as well.

The woman's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a smile. "Legends and legendary pokémon incite varying reactions from people to people. Considering that most people haven't ever seen a legendary pokémon, apart from some pictograms in the ruins, or perhaps some artistic representation of how these myths looked like, it is not a surprise."

The memory of the legendary king of ice, and her wrath came to mind.

"So you are telling me that people don't believe that they exist?" He asked.

"Some. For others, they are simply part of the culture and traditions that they have chosen to accept. The Weather trio, for instance, is only depicted in old books, via pictograms or perhaps, in some of the excavations around Hoenn. It's not like someone out there is going to capture a legendary pokémon and put it to battle at the Ever Grande conference." The nurse laughed at the clearly preposterous situation.

 _I'll fight you, defeat you, and then… I will capture you…._

"Yeah," Ash chuckled mirthlessly. "That would be pretty funny."

"You know, if you are more interested in the Hoenn legends, maybe you could ask the Sinnoh Champion. Hoenn and Sinnoh's cultures intermix a lot, especially the legends, and the Sinnoh government takes such things with a bit more… seriousness than in Hoenn."

"Sinnoh." Ash repeated. Of course, Cynthia would be arriving, most probably today from what Steven had theorized. Maybe he could ask her to get him some of these books on Sinnoh legends as well. Considering his own abysmal luck at such things, it wouldn't hurt to be a little knowledgeable about them in advance. As it were, the topic was pretty interesting.

"I will… leave you to that book. Duty calls." The nurse chirped, once again making Ash wonder how… diverse this Nurse Joy's reactions were. He wasn't the expert but he felt like the Hoenn Nurse Joy had a wider range of temperaments than Hoenn had legends and mysteries. Deciding not to ponder over the subject, he looked down at the book again, turning over the page as he continued to read.

 **It is believed that the aftermath of the battle created three separate landmasses, which were then joined together by Regigigas, the Lord of Regi Trio or the legendary titans, as they are known.**

 _A pokémon that could move continents?_ Ash couldn't help but try bend his mind around that concept.

 **Legends say that after joining the three landmasses that formed our Hoenn, Regigigas created three pokémon in his own image, bestowing upon them control over only a specific element. The first was Regirock, the titan of rocks. The next, Registeel, had absolute dominance over steel, and finally, Regice, the titan of ice. For reasons unknown, after the creation of the Regi trio, Regigigas entered a state of eternal slumber in Sinnoh, a location where the Snow Point Temple now stands. It is believed that the Regi trio are the keys to break Regigigas out of slumber, though for whatever reasons… the Regi trio were never spotted in Sinnoh.**

 **There goes a specific legend which states that because of their… inferior status as a legendary, the Regi trio were in fact, able to create multiple selves of their own. Researchers agree that the process must have been through budding, as happens with the pseudo-legendary Metagross, a pokémon native to Hoenn.**

 _See Metagross? Even you are part of the Hoenn legends?_

 _ **I am not surprised. All that is Metagross, is invariably linked to the mysteries of the world, both as all-knowing ones, and our status as pseudo-legendaries.**_

 _Your head would soon be unable to fit through the door, you know._

 _ **Very true. Adults of all that is Metagross have extremely large heads. You should know that since you met an adult yourself.**_

 _That's not- whatever._ Ash decided to stop the impromptu conversation and return to the book.

 **There are several proofs of the above statement. History says that after creating outgrowths of themselves, the legendary Regi Trio locked themselves away somewhere in Hoenn, so that malicious forces wouldn't be able to use them to inlock the doors beyond which the Gigas sleeps. What these malicious forces could be, can only be speculated.**

 **Despite that, there exists documentation to believe that multiple Regi trio have been spotted in the last thousand years, the most common being the one spotted near Rota in Kanto, and the other being the ruins of Pokelantis, an excavation site in Kanto near Mt. Hideaway.**

"Mt. Hideaway?" Ash gushed, half in exhilaration and half, disbelief. "That's in Pallet Town, a little distance from my home. That's…" Ash couldn't find suitable words to describe what he was feeling at the moment. "To think that my own town is a spot where legendaries have been spotted, I… I didn't even know all this."

 _ **Perhaps the good professor stays in Pallet Town for the same reason.**_

"That… makes a lot of sense, you know." Ash murmured. It was often a thing of speculation why Samuel Oak, a person who was one of the pioneers of the pokémon world, chose to build his highly advanced laboratory in the calm, little town, away from the hundreds of possibly better locations available. Could it be that Samuel Oak was involved in the excavations of Pokelantis, and was studying legendary pokémon?

 _ **It is a definite possibility.**_

"Yeah…" Ash murmured. "And then there's the King Dragonite, so close in the Cerulean Sea, and the moonstone, and Articuno."

 _ **The king of ice has her own bastion, far away from the Mountain of the Moon.**_

 _Then why was she….?_

 _ **The minds of Legendaries are beyond our comprehension.**_

 _Of course._ Ash rolled his eyes. From his perspective, legendaries were ultra-powerful beings with little concern what happened to others. He had done nothing to harm the Moonstone, or the pokémon inside the mountain, and yet, Articuno had tried to kill him. True, the King dragon had been simply enraged at Bill summoning him and everything, but then again, he wasn't exactly a legendary per se. And the less said about Mewtwo, the better.

"You do realise that we are going to be battling one sooner or later, and possibly, within a year from now?"

 _ **Your mind is too focussed on the thought for me to forget it any time soon.**_

 _Right._

* * *

 **Meanwhile on Indigo Plateau.**

"Lance?"

The Champion of Kanto and Johto looked up from his chair, a little… irritated at finding Steven standing at the door. "Yes?"

"I just… wanted to debrief you about something."

"What's there to debrief anymore?" Lance scoffed. "With that Legendary in league with Team Rocket, it is a surprise that Indigo Plateau is still standing."

Steven winced. Lance had a point. If not for the information he had gained from an extremely precocious fourteen-year-old, the severity of the situation might have gotten to him as well. "I… might have something to persuade you to think otherwise."

Lance looked up squarely at the former Champion's face. "Come in."

"Actually," Steven interrupted, "I was hoping this… information to be discussed with the Kanto Elite being present here as well."

Lance frowned. "Bruno is unavailable at the moment. He has been… called in at the Tanoby Ruins for some… secret excavation process. They won't even tell the league what it is about."

"Something that Silph Co. and Devon Corp. are working together in. They want to keep it away from the general public at the moment."

"And you know that because?"

"My uncle heads the team."

 _Right. Of course._ Lance stood up from his chair, his eyes flickering at the tetrahedral stone in the ring he had been wearing ever since he had become Champion. A ring… that he would never use again in his life.

"Fine. Give me a minute. I will check in with Agatha and Lorelei."

"And Sabrina." Steven stressed. "She… might be important in this."

"Very well, give me a minute. I'll give them a call."

"Actually," Steven interrupted once again, "I already did that in advance."

Lance simply raised an eyebrow. "Call them in."

* * *

 **After almost an h0ur later.**

"So let me get this straight," Lance tried to put things into perspective. "Our best bet to understanding a legendary's-"

'Not a legendary." Sabrina, the fifteen-year-old psychic-mistress, and one of the Kanto Elite Four, spoke out in her usual blank tone. "The psychic is… too young to be even considered a legendary infant."

"And you know that how?" Lorelei asked.

The raven-haired psychic shrugged.

Lance felt his left eye twitch. Once again, the _little girl_ who had managed to bag the Elite four position was making a comment without a care for justification. This… this was _exactly_ why he didn't like having the _psychic mistress Sabrina_ in close quarters, especially not during an Elite four meeting. Usually, he had Lorelei, and recently, Steven to dispatch messages to her should the need arise.

"Alright." Lance controlled his growing irritation. For some reason, his emotional control went flying through the window when he faced the psychic girl. The fact that his Charizard had been…

Lance cleared his mind. This was no time for nostalgia. "Alright," he repeated, "not a legendary. So our best bet against this… Mewtwo, is the word of a fourteen-year-old kid with less experience than an average trainer?"

"I… would disagree with that, Lance." Steven put in. "Even if we were to discount all of his... interactions with the Legendaries over the last _one month_ of his training, it must not to ignored that this… _kid,_ with less experience than an average trainer, as you mentioned, was able to reach the Top-4 of the Clubsplosion event-"

"That does not-" Lance began.

"-and had every chance of winning the tournament should Harrison, his final opponent and a close friend, use _revenge tactics_ to turn the tide of the battle. Besides, it is documented, both from Harrison, who for the record, is the runner-up of the event, _and_ a trainer with over an year of experience from Hoenn- that Ash Ketchum fought against an Executive and almost defeated him. Also…" he paused, "there are reasons why I say that Ash Ketchum was the one to _summon_ that unholy power of a Dragonite."

"And he was the one Absol chose to come to." Agatha whispered, more to herself than to everyone else.

"He _summoned_ him, didn't he?" Sabrina repeated. "I had been wondering." She looked up. "And how do you know this?"

Steven looked a little… troubled. "I really couldn't say."

Lance stared at the Deputy Champion for a while, squarely in the face. "Noted."

Steven nodded sharply. "Also, the psychic, as I stated earlier, knows that Ash Ketchum was the one to do it, and well, has demonstrated an interest in him."

"Which you talked about in great detail." Lance summarized. "Anything else?"

Steven was taken aback. "What else do you want to know?"

Lance gave him an objective look. "I'm talking about this boy. Who is he? His parentage, family history. What makes him so special for this Mewtwo to gain interest in him?"

Steven arched an eyebrow.

"For reasons as you yourself stated, Ash Ketchum has been receiving special interest from the Legendaries and mythical pokémon as of late. I understand that not many of us have had the luck to encounter a legendary, and yet this kid keeps running across them like they are a dime a dozen."

Sabrina giggled at that.

"You want him tracked." Lorelei summarized.

Lance stood up from the chair. "Let me make this clear. I do not consider Ash Ketchum a threat. However, something about him does make… shifts in the legendary community, and I need to know what that is. I don't care if Ash Ketchum stands staring at a whitewashed wall all day. I am interested in who built the damn wall and who whitewashed it."

"That's some serious paranoia coming from you." Steven noted.

Lance slammed his hands on the table. "I had my entire squad hung in the air by their neck by a pokémon I never saw or heard in my life, and then had to see their necks snapped. I was the one who had to watch my Charizard… _my Charizard,_ snapped and thrown over like yesterday's trash by a legendary pokémon who seems to get off by killing people alongside a terrorist organization. And now, you and the Kanto Elite Four want me to believe that our best bet is a fourteen-year-old with no apparent specialty in him except being the center of attraction for Legendaries. So, yes, _Steven Stone,_ I am fucking paranoid and y0u should be as well."

Steven suppressed a sigh. "What do you want?"

"Information. Anything that you feel is relevant on this Ash Ketchum, I need it on my table. You say he is skilled, then I need to know just _where_ his skill stands. What is he playing for? What are his ambitions? And why does he think about the entire legendary stuff. I want it all."

"I could ask the gym leaders to give track of his battles." Steven suggested.

"Not enough. You say he trusts you right? Make use of it. Make sure he keeps contact with you."

"He… is a freelance researcher in direct communication with Bill Montgomery."

Lance opened his mouth, and then closed it. "Yes, information like that as well."

"And?" It was Lorelei that asked.

"And how the fuck does a no-name kid from Pallet town get into _private communication_ with the two behemoths of the pokémon world? Devon Corp. and Silph Co., both of them?"

"Where is he now?" Sabrina asked, out of random.

"Mirage Island, hoping to catch a ghost."

For some reason, Agatha had a strange expression floating on her face, one that made Sabrina push away from slightly.

"Hmmm." Lance muttered, checking out the trainer profile. "I see that you made some personal decorations to his profile."

"He saved my ass on the Anne. No offence, Lance, the kid did our jobs without asking, and without a demand. The least I could do was make things a little easier."

"His mother… is an assistant for Samuel Oak?" Lance arched an eyebrow. "Interesting."

"Delia Ketchum, interesting woman." Sabrina spoke quietly.

"You know her?" Lance returned in surprise.

Sabrina tilted her head. "Her Kadabra is Yin's son."

"Yin as in your Alakazam Yin?" Lorelei probed.

Sabrina blinked her eyes. "And now he is with the boy."

"And your psychic awareness tells you that?" Lance asked sceptically.

"My awareness tells me what I deserve to know. You should try it sometimes." Sabrina replied innocently.

"I'll pass." Lance paused for a moment, before making a decision. "Lorelei, I believe you mentioned some… Rocket activity at the Seafoam islands?"

Lorelei nodded. "Ever since Ice has left… the Ice cave has been in danger."

Lance nodded his head. Lorelei was one of the few remaining natives of the Seafoam islands, who followed the old ways and served to protect the sanctity of the Ice Cave, known to be the bastion of Articuno, the legendary king of Ice.

"At least now we know where Articuno has been all this while." He looked up at Steven. "Your uncle should have reported these findings to the League immediately."

Steven raised an eyebrow. "You do know right, that Uncle Derrick trusts you as far as he can throw you?"

Sabrina giggled at that.

"Either way, I will be taking in charge of the matter. You of course, do make sure that we acquire regular info about Ash Ketchum."

"You are looking for it in the wrong place." Agatha spoke suddenly.

"Is that so?" Lance challenged. "Do you have a better idea in mind?"

"There is an info, but I am not sure that you are going to like it."

Lance gazed at her. "Try me."

Agatha stared at him imperiously. "Delia Ketchum's husband is… Alexander Rothsvale." She paused.

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of him."

"I'm not surprised. Alexander Rothsvale. Started out with a Charmander as a starter. Won the Indigo conference two years later, and the Sinnoh Lily of the Valley conference the following year. Served as Ace trainer under Champion Brandon for five years, before retiring to Iron Island and continuing service as an international freelance expert on ghost-types and psychic-types."

"I am still waiting." Lance replied impatiently.

"Encountered Lugia and Ho-oH seventeen years ago, and a year later, married Delia Ketchum. An expert on legendary activity, and in correspondence with me for the last twenty years. You might know him as… _Red._ "

Lance's countenance was a perfect artistic representation of someone trying to catch his own shadow, as he slowly landed himself on his chair, his palms on his face.

 _By the Gods…._

* * *

Two days had passed and Ash Ketchum was finally free to walk around on his own, though the somewhat domineering Nurse had intimated that it would be for his own good, if he carried a walking stick with himself, at least for the next week. Ash had agreed to it without any troubles, considering from what he had known about it, it took days to walk out of the forest after one walked into it. A rather queer thing, considering that the entire forestland encompassed only several hectares at best.

"This," Nurse Joy presented him with a pokeball- a greatball, Ash recognized. Greatballs had a 50% greater chance of catching and retaining a pokémon with it, compared to ultraballs which had a 100% greater chance for the same. "—is the pokeball that contains your mystery pokémon." She frowned. "I asked Mr. Stone to reveal the name and nature, but he wouldn't tell me."

"Thanks." Ash replied gratefully, accepting the greatball before locking it into his belt along with the others. He had exhausted his free pokeballs that he had bought at the Cerulean pokemart and hence, had had to request Nurse Joy if she could arrange someone to get a pokeball for him. Imagine his surprise when he found that Hoenn had a larger variety when it came to pokeballs than Kanto.

"Did you get the fastballs tucked up?" The Nurse asked.

Ash nodded. Fastballs, were a specific type of pokeball that were made to catch a pokémon in running motion. They were thus, instrumental when it came to catching something that moved too quickly. The rest of their features, were the same as that of the standard pokeballs. Apparently, Hoenn had a regular delivery of fastballs from the Johto region from some private manufacturer, or so the nurse had informed him.

"I thought that the Sinnoh Champion was supposed to arrive." The Nurse expressed.

"Yeah, me too." Ash murmured to himself. He had quite excited at the prospect of meeting Cynthia again, especially now that they weren't on some ship in the middle of the sea, battling for their lives. Besides, Steven's words had… raised some unexplained feelings at the back of his mind, feelings that he didn't know what to do with, or how to express them. Maybe meeting with the blonde-haired girl would have soothed matters, but she was nowhere to be seen.

 _Yet._

"Maybe she's gotten a little too involved with the aftermath." Ash answered, appearing to sound convincing, though he wasn't sure who it was, that he was trying to convince. "Anyway, if I wait any longer, I will start getting calls from home or something. I need to get started with the trip as quickly as possible."

"Very well." The Nurse bowed softly. "It was nice having you here. If you visit Hoenn again, please visit us."

"I will, thanks Nurse Joy."

The nurse nodded again, before walking back to the main lobby, as Ash Ketchum slowly walked up, tapping his walking stick as he did, past the garden, past the outer courtyard to the outer boundary, where a certain avian was waiting for him.

"You know, I'm seriously going to hurt myself if you throw me from up there." Ash taunted.

The great avian in front of him returned with an indignant screech, as if the very thought of that was an insult upon her own flying capabilities. She pointed towards the elaborate saddle—one that Ash had ordered from the local shops, another impulsive buy, but considering Pidgeot's love for flying, and Ash's own hate for psychic-travel, flying on Pidgeot's back was the most optimum way to travel from now on. Besides, even an _ordinary_ Pidgeot (he never thought that those two words could ever be used together) could fly at speeds surpassing Mach 2, should they push their limits. Ash had no idea what a _mega-evolved_ Pidgeot could do.

"Now how the hell am I supposed to get up on this thing?" Ash wondered aloud. Had Pidgeot being the usual five feet, it would have been a normal affair, but with his own somewhat-fragile state, and Pidgeot's larger frame, it was slightly difficult.

The bird in question let out a frustrated screech, before folding her limbs as she knelt down on the ground, doing her level best to allow her trainer to get on top. After three consecutive failures, Ash had released Metagross to give him some psychic aid, levitating him all the way to the saddle, as he got himself comfortable, putting the walking stick inside the saddle for safe-keeping, before returning Metagross to his pokeball.

"All right then." He caressed the long crimson mane that swept past his leg. Even after all this time, he was having trouble believing that his Pidgeotto, the tiny little thing, was now this massive, regal, mega-evolved Pidgeot. At least the saddles came in with a psychic lock, making sure that the person sitting wouldn't be blown away by the sheer wind hitting their faces. It had cost a little more than five hundred pokedollars, but he knew it would be worth it.

"Okay, I'm ready, now just move in slowly and Waa-"

Pidgeot didn't bother to wait any longer. Now that her overtly dense trainer had gotten himself on top of her, there was no way she'd remain on the ground. With a single beat of her enormous wings, she lifted herself off the ground, soaring into the atmosphere, reaching the speed of a hundred miles an hour in less than three seconds, swooping and weaving through the air as she flew towards the infamous forest of Illusions. The fact that her trainer was squealing like a little girl simply added to her enthusiasm.

* * *

Mirage Island, in itself, was the largest of an entire group of islands, some two hundred miles off the coast of Hoenn mainland. There were a total of seventeen islands, forming an archipelago with Mirage being the most distinct, with its grand Pokémon center and an entire shopping district. Most of the smaller islands were inundated with dense forests, or native populations, though a couple had a modernized outlook to it. The forest of Illusions, was on one of the more far-away islands that were officially considered a part of the archipelago, though the region was as reclusive as possible. Except the occasional visit from the Hoenn League officials, the island was pretty much a deserted one.

Ash found himself leaning against his walking stick, as he surveyed the entire area in front of him. Just like Steven had mentioned, there was a rocky pedestal with a Hoothoot etched on its face. While not the official name, this little zone was commonly called the Hoothoot village, considering that Hoothoot breeding, rearing and training (and selling to other regions and visiting trainers), was the main occupation that fed more than half of the village. Returning Pidgeot to her pokeball, Ash slowly trudged past the entrance, as he took in the entire sight.

The place was abound with the peculiar pokémon that he had never really seen before. It looked like an owl, though it hopped around on a single leg, its bright red eyes (which looked rather spooky at first sight), glowing slightly at him, as they watched him from afar. The moment he entered the area, several of them hopped out of his way, as he trudged towards an old couple, who were yelling at each other in what Ash recognized was a foreign tongue.

"Uh… excuse me?"

The elder woman gazed at him imperiously. "Yes?"

"Uh… I want to visit the forest of Illusions."

"That way." The woman turned away from him, returning to grinding some kind of paste in a stone mortar.

Ash paused, wondering how to get his point across. Clearing his throat, he spoke again. "I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find a Hoothoot to take with me."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Money?" She had a rather coarse voice.

Ash took a step back. It seemed he would have to _buy_ a Hoothoot, and not catch one. While money wasn't really a tight situation right now, he had never really _bought_ a pokémon before.

The thought sounded odd.

Ash cleared his throat again. "I was wondering if I could catch one myself."

The woman arched an eyebrow, looking even uglier than before. "No money?"

"No—I have money, its just-" Ash began.

"Hey you, with the stick!" A stranger a little far away, sitting under a palm tree, called out to him.

"Who me?"

"Yeah, you, with that stick. Come here."

A little perplexed, Ash trudged towards the stranger. At a closer look, he seemed like a rather portly man wearing bright colours and a rather fashionable glasses on his face. Ash could have imagined this guy at the beach, sipping palm juice or something like that- not in a remote island like this one.

"Let me guess? Trainer, and want a ghost pokémon?"

Ash nodded. "Kind of."

"What happened to your leg?"

"Accident." Ash put it. There was no pint detailing things to a stranger he had never seen before in his life.

"Must have been one serious accident then." The man's sunglasses shone as he lifted his feet off another chair, standing up. "The name's Scott. Pleased to meet ya!"

Ash nodded. "Likewise. I'm Ash."

"Ash eh? You don't look like ya'r from Hoenn."

"Kanto." Ash answered.

"Visitor like me then, I'm from Celadon myself, and you?"

Ash arched an eyebrow. He hadn't expected to find someone—anyone close to home over here of all places. "Pallet town."

The man lifted his sunglasses off his face. "Ash, from Pallet town, huh? Must be one of Oak's then."

"You know Professor Oak?"

The man gave him a winning smile. "We go long back. So tell me kid, what's someone like you doing all the way over here?"

"I was on the St. Anne." That was supposed to explain everything.

The man raised his eyebrows. "I… see." He looked down at Ash's walking stick. "I suppose that's where you suffered from your accident?"

"Kind 'a…"

Scott seemed to consider something, before he returned to his chair. "Take a seat, kid, and maybe I could give you a little bit of info about how to get a ghost pokémon from there." He pointed towards the outer periphery of the forest.

Ash thought about it for a while, before deciding to try the stranger as well. Worse came to worst, he would have to buy a Hoothoot and get going. He took Scott's offer.

"I've been here for quite some time. Studying the forest and its environment, to be exact." The sunglasses were back on his shiny face. "Ever heard of the Island of the Maiden's rock, kid?"

Ash nodded. The island of the Maiden's Rock was one of the more popular tourist locations in Kanto, outside of Cerulean city and of course, the more remote Seafoam Islands. Come to think of it, Kanto was mostly a mainland saturated with mountains, plateaus, forests and ruins.

"Well, this land's got a story connected to that place. They say that over a hundred years ago, this land was ruled by sea pirates- monsters among men who attacked unsuspecting sea-travellers and looted them, stole their pokémon, and then threw them into these forests."

Ash felt disgusted.

"The land was apparently poisoned by their poison-types, and they would banish the prisoners into the forest, and set a couple of Houndoom on them. Most of them got torn to pieces and eaten by the Houndoom, and the few others that survived, died of the poison that was a part of the very ground they managed to somehow thrive on. The fruits, the leaves, even the water itself, contained deadly poison. That was apparently how it continued, until one day, the pirates attacked another ship, this time capturing a couple of trainers from Kanto."

"Kanto?" Ash arched an eyebrow.

"Apparently, one of them was a ghost-type trainer, and managed to escape the pirates before they could snatch his pokémon away, running into the forests to escape them. Just as always, the pirates sent their Houndoom behind him, but the trainer's ghost types- a group of three Haunter- managed to somehow kill them and help him live, though not without injuries. For days he trudged through these forests, before finally succumbing to pain and poison, and he died there, alone inside the forest, with his pokémon, unable to do anything to save him from that horrible death."

Ash felt bile rise up in his stomach. "What happened, after that?"

"The locals say that the three ghosts, lost in grief, gave in to their rage, and cursed the pirates, the land and everything on the island. They hid the trainer's body, somewhere within these forests, away from any human presence, creating a dense fog of otherworldly energies that protects the forests and those that lurk within from external attack."

Ash was…. befuddled by the entire story, hanging on to Scott's every word.

"The forests are thick with Phantump—they are ghost-types that look like shrubs, and Trevenant, their evolved forms. The locals say that the people who lost their lives in the forests, couldn't escape, even in death, and became ghost pokémon themselves—the Phantump and Trevenant to be exact."

"Phantump and Trevenant." Ash repeated.

"I'll tell you something, kid. That forest, it is a dangerous place. Only those with the purest of intentions come out of that place, alive, and sometimes, even that isn't enough. You'd have better luck with Lavender Town than here, if you ask me."

Ash was too deep in his own thoughts to consider Scott's words. Somewhere, he could find himself relating to the dead trainer.

 _We will follow you into distortion itself…._ His pokémon had said.

"How does this relate to the Island of the Maiden's Rock?" He asked finally.

"Ah, so you were paying attention. Good. Good. It is believed that the Maiden of the Rock is actually that trainer's newlywed wife. He promised her that he'd be back before she knew it, and never returned. The local legends say that the spirit of the maiden is still waiting for the trainer to return home."

"That was dramatic." Ash deadpanned.

Scott laughed. "Well, I'm not sure about the latter, but the forest part is certainly true. As I said, you'd do well to avoid this place."

"No."

"Huh?"

"No." Ash stood up. "I came here to get myself a ghost pokémon, and I will."

Scott removed his sunglasses and looked squarely at him. "Well, you've got balls, I'll give you that much. Do you have a dark type with you?"

"I have an Absol, and a Crawdaunt."

Scott raised an eyebrow. "An Absol, huh? Pretty rare. Not so sure about Crawdaunt, but yeah, Absol should do well. However, you should get yourself a Hoothoot as well. The money's an extra expense but it's worth it. Stick to the main paths, and don't go chasing illusions. Maybe you'll return back in a week."

Ash wasn't sure if Scott was trying to motivate him or scare the shit out of him.

Scott snorted at his expression. "Just kidding. You do have a psychic-type with you, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Indeed? A proper trainer… where's the world coming to?" He chuckled at his own attempt at humour. "Get your psychic to teleport you should things get bad. That's all the advice you get from me, kid."

"Uh… thanks. It was…educational."

"Hah! Bet you got scared shitless midway, didn't ya?"

Ash didn't deign to dignify that comment with an answer.

* * *

 **AN: My shortest chapter so far. I know, I know. Initially, I planned to put it as a part of the complete thing, but then I decided to put these… portions into a separate chapter. The next one will be of the normal size of 9k+, I assure you. All this is an evening's work. I started at eight, and it's close to one already, so I'll just post it now and get myself some shut eye. Tomorrow's a rather tough day for me. And to the answer the question, Yes, I write a chapter after publishing the previous one. I dont have stuff written before hand. I'd simply reject them and redesign from scratch, had I done so.  
**

 **For the record, in case you are wondering what I do for a living, the answer is that I'm a web developer and equity trader on the stock market. Oh, and I teach students for fun.**

 **Yeah, yeah, I know, Cynthia didn't show up. Don't worry about that. Either way, if you like what I did with the chapter, please put in a review. It means a lot to me.**

 **Thank you.**


	16. Sacrifice

Ghost-types are, in general, one of the queerest pokémon in the world. Their very existence is something that is shrouded in mystery, and befuddles even the greatest of scientists of the world. For one, ghost pokémon are, strangely enough, highly effective against their own kind, something that they share with the dragon-type and no one else. Even then, the former is much more puzzling than the latter.

For one thing, dragons are super effective against dragons _not because_ they are dragons, but because the others _aren't._ By their sheer nature, a dragon is mostly capable of using electric, flying, fire, and water-based moves with an efficiency that borders the types themselves. Further, dragons also find it _significantly easier_ to master moves of the other types like psychic, ghost, dark, ground, and the like. In fact, with the exception of the Fairy type, a dragon can, in due course, be able to give a tough fight and even win against a particular type, limiting itself to moves of said type. There is a reason after all, why the _dragon type_ is considered the most powerful type among pokémon, and why a majority of the Legendaries are draconic in nature.

Bottom line. A dragon can use water-based attacks against a fire-type, like it can use dark-based attacks against a psychic type, or flying-based attacks against a normal type. The point is- because of the sheer versatility of the draconic kind, only a dragon can be super-effective against another, and no one else.

From that vantage point, the situation of ghosts are… remarkably complex. For one, a ghost-type doesn't boast of the sheer versatility of the draconic beings, nor is it immensely powerful against the other types. Dark types can, in eight chances out of ten, beat the crap out of the ghosts, and with the aid of certain… techniques like miracle eye and foresight, even the other types can offer powerful resistance against these… complicated creatures. However, it is seen ghosts are _immensely vulnerable_ to attacks of its own type, the reason for which, is quite the matter of speculation.

Compared to what most laymen like to believe, a ghost-pokémon isn't necessarily _dead._ Of course, the ghost-type does have a lot of… linkages with the realms of spirits and the dead, but that is solely because of their own nature as other dimensional beings. Not only that, a ghost is like… an invasive shadow, an impossibility of sorts, an equation with infinite solutions and _none_ of them being the right ones. In fact, most psychic-types tend to refer to the ghost-type as the _otherworldly ones,_ the ones who tamper with the real world by _merely existing_ in it.

And that was what Ash Ketchum was hoping to capture, as he ventured into the absolute blackness of the illusionary forest. He had spent a lot of time wandering between cities over the last month, and that included forests too, considering the abundance of forestland in Kanto. However, that was, in no way, comparable to the one he was in right now.

By nature, ghosts didn't appear in sunlight, choosing to stay hidden in the shadows and the darkness of old caverns, and of course, the dead of the night. However, with the entire ghostly-fog covering the forestland like an ever-deepening canopy, sunlight was the last thing someone would have in mind. It was only due to the soft glow emanating from Metagross's form, a subtle application of Flash that showed the path through the woods amongst the dense, nigh impenetrable foliage. Considering Ash's own state, Metagross had offered to give him a lift, allowing Ash to sit over his head, resting there, as Absol jumped through the dense shrubbery growing all around. Often, the disaster pokémon would stop, sniff around a bit, before continuing her prowl into the exhaustive land of the ghosts. Of course, there was a Hoothoot in their little group, hopping ahead on her single limb, hooting all the way through the pitch blackness.

He had _purchased_ the obnoxious little owl for four hundred pokedollars, a murder on his finances, since he could have got two low-powered TMs or even a single pack of full-restores from any departmental store with that kind of money. Of course, Ash was barely in financial debt, considering the recent additions he had gained from the prize money at St. Anne, and the reward from Commerce City. However, he had put the entire money into a separate holding, wanting to save it for later, especially for extraneous conditions. The treatment at the Mirage Island Pokémon center had been paid for by the League, for which Ash was extremely grateful, else it would have charged him a hefty amount. With the impulsive decision to get himself a go0d saddle, and now this, he was left with a little more than a thousand pokedollars at best, and would have to start battling trainers on the road if he wanted to get himself and his pokémon good-quality food and resources.

"Hoothoot, don't keep on running ahead like that. We don't want to get lost." Ash yelled at the snotty little thing, which had the nasty habit of trying to jump up and peck at him whenever he asked anything. For a little owl that hopped around one a single leg, aiding trainers through the forest, Ash was beginning to think he had picked the shortest straw among the bunch.

 _And I spent four hundred on that too._

Metagross hummed softly, floating ahead. At least he and Absol were trustworthy, and Ash knew that he would always be able to depend on them. While Absol had been slightly wary of him after the first battle with Pidgeot, she had warmed up considerably, which translated to following his commands without much trouble. Besides, she seemed _awfully thrilled_ at the prospect of a _ghost-hunt,_ from what Metagross explained to him inside his mind.

"I have to ask," Ash questioned, "what exactly caused that entire brawl in the first place?"

The brawl, as Ash was referring to, meant the impromptu battle session between Kadabra and Metagross, one that happened on the third day of their training at the cliff. The two psychics were having a conversation for a while, before the tone shifted, and an impromptu battle had begun between them. Of course, Kadabra was a superior psychic, having honed his power and skill for years, compared to Metagross's miniature development, but the steel-type had other ways to pick up the slack. His powerful appendages and that perfected _Meteor Mash_ to be specific. Needless to say, both psychics had gotten injuries, and Kadabra had been a wreck, as anybody would have gotten after having a meteor mash on the face- and Ash had to send them off to the center to get themselves treated. Whatever had started the entire thing in the first place was anybody's guess.

Ash felt a wave of irritation from his iron-leg pokémon at the mention of the event. "You don't need to talk about it now, if you want. I know Kadabra can be a real handful at times, but if you need to share, I'm always available to listen."

The iron-leg pokémon hummed again.

 _ **The psi accused me of being an overtly sentimental fool.**_

Ash arched an eyebrow. "I'm… not surprised. Kadabra has always been a rather… snarky one, right from the beginning.'

 _ **Really? One could hardly tell.**_

His trainer snorted at that. "What happened?"

Metagross considered it. _**The psi speaks the truth. Without realizing my complete potential as Metang, I chose to succumb to the lure of evolution.**_

 _Oh._

 _ **The battle with that fiery beast… he called me weak, and I wanted to strike him back. I wanted to win you the battle. For a moment, I lost control over my own awareness. I had much to learn as a Metang, knowledge that I would not acquire in many moons at minimum, and yet… I chose to succumb to the call of evolution, and embrace the power that it brought along.**_

"Will it have any… you know, negative effects on yourself?" Ash asked, concerned.

 _ **The skills we learn as Metang, get better when we evolve become Metagross, and even then, it takes years to naturally hone them to superlative degree.**_

"But you didn't learn them back then." Ash understood.

 _ **I did not, and hence, lost my chance to evolve those abilities as well. I will have to learn them from scratch. There is a great shame in saying so… trainer Ash, that I'm probably, the weakest of all that is Metagross.**_

For a moment, Ash felt like he would drown in the negative emotions outpouring from the iron leg pokémon. "I'm sorry…"he tried, "If I had simply returned you-"

 _ **I do not blame you, trainer Ash. There is more to power, life and battle to all that is Metagross, and I had forgotten that in my indulgence. Sad to say, it is something I have to reap myself.**_

"What about TM's? Can't they… you know…" Ash tried. On the one hand, he felt real bad for his pokémon. On the other hand, the more rational part of his mind couldn't help but wonder _just_ how powerful Metagross had the potential to become, if _Metagross_ was calling himself the weakest of all. Pidgeot had mega-evolved, and even now, Ash was sure that Metagross could probably give her a tough battle.

 _I guess that is what happens with pseudo-legendary pokémon._

 _ **Those might aid, but the road is long, and I have to cover a lot. I'm sorry for disappointing you, trainer Ash.**_

"Don't worry, Metagross." Ash smiled, touching the iron-leg pokémon's head with his palm, "I'll never be the one to express anything like disappointment at you."

Another soft hum emanated from the steel-type.

"Hey Absol?" Ash asked suddenly. "What do you think of Kadabra?"

The disaster pokémon paused on her tracks, let out a snort, before continuing to walk ahead.

 _ **She says that the psi speaks loud, but fails louder.**_

Ash snorted. "Don't be like that. Kadabra is my mom's strongest pokémon."

Absol snorted at that.

"I'm serious. He's spent over a decade honing his skills as a psychic. Mom once told me about it. If there's anything that a psychic can know, Kadabra knows it. I doubt there's even a single natural move that he cannot perform to perfection."

 _ **I have to ask, if only to quench the void-using feline's curiosity, why hasn't the psi evolved to his final form?**_

Ash almost snorted. His personal problems aside, Metagross was remarkably smug. "Well, I'm not sure, but Mom always said that that the distinction between the Kadabra and the Alakazam stage is a significant difference of power, nothing else. Kadabra has no need for all that extra power, considering that he's spent the last decade lounging in the house or chitchatting up with Professor oak's Alakazam.

Absol snorted at that.

 _ **Maybe your mother sent him to you as punishment?**_

"I… doubt that. Mom must have had her reasons." Ash murmured. He had wondered why in hell she had sent Kadabra of all pokémon to aid him, considering psychics were usually the vulnerable ones when faced with ghosts. Of course, Mr. Mime would be hardly any better, and Kirlia was chummier than a Delcatty. Considering his situation, sending another dark-type from Professor Oak's own was a better prospect—especially if he could have gotten Oak's Mismagius. Ghost or not, that thing was cool.

"Either way, it's not like getting into a few fights will promote evolution in Kadabra. The bastard carries an Everstone on his person at all times.

 _ **He must be really past the call of evolution to need an Everstone.**_

"Guess so." Ash muttered, "Hey why did you-?"

He stopped. Something had happened. For one, Hoothoot had stopped its incessant noise. Absol had stopped its snooping, and was sniffing… something in the air.

 _Metagross._

 _ **The otherworldly ones… they are in the air… non-corporeal. My limited awareness senses their presence, but only that. The feeling is… saturated all around us.**_

 _Shit._ Ash cursed inwardly. Of course, inside a forest engulfed in ghostly energies, the ghosts were likely more powerful than outside. It would be more difficult to capture them here.

 _Should have planned for-_ "Yak!"

Metagross suddenly created a psychic barrier to prevent Ash from falling off, as he zoomed upward, narrowly missing the immensely-thick roots that came at them, tearing through the earth, as vines shot up from random directions, wanting to capture them.

"Vine whip?" Ash yelled. "How in earth is a grass-type-?" He couldn't manage to finish his words before a large tree-trunk expanded, shooting towards metagross, only to be stopped by a powerful punch from the iron-leg pokémon. Meanwhile, Absol was having a hard time, jumping past the suddenly rising tree-trunks and roots the likes of which she had never faced prior to this. Using successive psycho-cuts and shadow-claws could only help so much.

 _ **Hold still. This is going to get difficult.**_

"Can I help?" Ash almost yelped.

 _ **The rampaging beasts could be of aid now.**_

Ash almost rolled his eyes at the reference, before somehow managing to get what he needed from his belt. "Rhydon, Crawdaunt, Gyarados… I need help!"

The red light inundated the deathly blackness of the woods, as the humongous serpent took shape, followed by the rock-type. Crawdaunt snapped multiple vines viciously with his pincers, before reaching the ground.

 _ **This is otherworldly activity, trainer Ash.**_

"Great. Ghostly activity that controls the forests? What are we dealing with?" Ash wondered, before Scott's words came to mind. "Right.' He checked the Pokedex quickly.

 **Ghost pokémon in non-corporeal form. No data available.**

"Damn!" Ash yelled. "Never mind. Metagross, use flash, full power. Ghosts hate light. Gyarados, hyper beam next time something big strikes us."

The draconic serpent roared, twisting and tearing through the trees, as it fired successive bursts of hyper beam into the darkness, shattering away the branches and roots before they even made it to Ash. Rhydon was having the time of his life, slamming into the earth, as powerful seismic waves traversed the entire area, which seemed to do the trick.

Instantly, Ash could hear audible groans all around him, as a reddish hue appeared in front of him. In a matter of seconds, a powerful sphere of concentrated ghostly energy shot towards him, only to be deflected away by a single psycho-cut by an enraged Absol who growled, before sending out a powerful dark pulse into the darkness.

Another groan was heard amongst the rustling of the trees.

 _Where is that Hoothoot now?_ Ash mentally snarled. "Metagross, use psychic and bring the owl back."

An indignant hooting mess came flying through the air before landing on the ground. Somehow, managing to lift itself up, Hoothoot glared at him, its eyes displaying its incessant wish to peck at him. Ash however, had other plans.

"Use foresight on that thing." He pointed towards the reddish hue in the dark. "Else I'm leaving you behind."

That… seemed enough incentive (or threat) for Hoothoot to start working. With a prolonged hoot, the owl pokémon used its foresight to maximum effect, revealing the ghost responsible for so much damage. Standing in front of them, was a pokémon that looked like a tree, only one that had come back from the dead to haunt other people.

He took out his Pokedex again, hoping it would work this time. Luckily, it seemed to work out this time around.

 **Trevenant. The Elder tree pokémon. Through its roots, it exerts control over other trees. A deadly curse falls upon anyone cutting down trees in forests where Trevenant dwell. It will trap people who harm the forest, so they can never leave.**

 _So this is Trevenant eh?_

"Rhydon, use earthquake. Full power. Gyarados, hyper beam."

Foresight was a normal-type move, one that made a ghost-type vulnerable to moves of all types. Thus, the hyper beam, coupled with the powerful earthquake was enough to send the Trevenant out of commission, as it groaned loudly before falling down onto the forest floor.

Without a second thought, Ash threw one of his ultraballs at the pokémon, instantly sucking it in, as the ball wiggled for a first and second time, before settling with a ding.

Ash sighed.

 _Wait._

That was strange. The ball should have come back to his hand post-capture. That was a specialty of the ultraball technology. He would know, he had read all about it ever since its release. The ball in question, however, simply remained where it was, down on the forest floor.

 _Odd._

With no further attacks coming from any direction, Ash requested the steel-type to bring him down, as he stood on the damp ground, his walking stick in hand for support. With cautious steps, he slowly moved ahead towards the pokeball, Gyarados encircling all around him, looping through the branches, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

 _Everything's… too silent._

Ash bent to pick the ultraball from the ground, extended his hand, but then stopped. "Absol, is there anything around me?"

Absol grunted, shaking her head.

 _Being here has made you overly paranoid, Ash Ketchum._

Hi fingers graced over the ultraball, touching its sleek outer covering as a tingling sensation appeared on his fingers, before a swarming wave of nasty energy engulfed his entire body.

Ash Ketchum let out a scream.

* * *

As a dark-type, Absol had always been able to _slip_ through the powers of the all-knowing-ones and the otherworldly-ones, such were the powers of the void. Her very nature clashed with both types, while maintaining a distinct difference. Psychic-types were the ones who could manipulate the world around them, change things, and thus, liked the concept of _order_ in the world. For a psychic, a ghost was a representation of something that was the antithesis of order-a being that literally defined _chaos,_ something which merely by its existence, _tampered_ with the state of order of any natural environment.

Dark-types, or the void-users, were remarkably different than that.

While a ghost-type was invasive chaotic-energy given form and sentience, a dark-type was conceptualized _nothingness_ in a natural system. They couldn't be figured out, couldn't be contained, and couldn't be broken or shielded against by use of their psychic awareness. It was almost akin to try containing oil with a silver spoon. No matter what one did, the oil would overflow.

 _Unless of course, the oil amount was too small, and the spoon, too large._

Not that it was possible. With the exception of an immensely powerful Alakazam or perhaps, an ancient pseudo-legendary like Metagross, it was virtually impossible for a psychic to even _contain_ a dark-type (a remarkably weak dark-type) though psychic powers alone. That was exactly why Absol had wondered about the true nature of this… Mewtwo pokémon, who had scared each and every pokémon on the trainer's team, even the nigh invincible Pidgeot.

The battle with the ghost-type that Absol had just had, had been pretty educational. Slipping past otherworldly energies was one thing, but doing the same while trying to dodge grass-type moves? Now that was different. Confusing. Ghost-attacks made no difference to her back at the mountains, and she knew how to handle the rock-types up there pretty well. This however….

Absol decided that her perspective required a lot of changes. If even the nigh-invincible avian made no hesitation in declaring that she required a lot more training, then it must be supposedly true that Absol required training herself as well. The crustacean in the team was a pathetic waste, with no great skill save his raw, brute strength. The void in him was in traces, and the crustacean required training in that. Maybe the trainer would know something about it? She would have to ask the all-knowing-one since he was the one having meaningful conversations with the trainer most of the time.

However, that was for later, and not of priority right now. Absol sniffed, smelling the presence of otherworldly energy all around. But then again, it was everywhere, growing consistently with every single feet they had traversed into the forest. She saw her trainer slowly walk towards the pokeball that now held the captured ghost. Perhaps now she could get some practice, learning to defend herself around ghosts as well?

"Absol, is there anything around me?"

Absol was… surprised. She had expected the trainer to turn to the hulking all-knowing-one. Most humans tended to work better with the psychics, bonding in their mutual love of order from chaos. Dark-types and ghost-types were… treated with caution. For Absol, it was no different, considering her own… premonitions regarding the onset of disasters. Then again, her trainer was different.

Very, very different.

When Ash Ketchum had released her out in the crowd, she had somewhat… anticipated, a look of shock on his face, which she had gotten too, before the trainer had returned her back to the pokeball, not taking her out for the next couple of days. As an Absol, it was her duty to alert the world about her premonitions, often doing so without caring for herself. Destiny always made sure of that anyway. After staying in suspended animation for over three days, Absol had begun to think that her trainer blamed her for the destruction that had come over the ship, as she knew it would. The fact that her trainer had released her on top of that cliff, surrounded by large, powerful and vicious pokémon, Absol had feared for the worst. Her _owner_ was injured, and in all possibility, was going to torture her because of it, blaming her for the destruction and devastation that should have come after her release.

She had been dead wrong.

 _"I… I just need to say that, I wish to thank you for your contribution…"_

" _After you showed up, we got a little time to prepare ourselves for the attack on the ship. I don't even want to consider what would have happened had we all been caught unaware."_

 _"So… I just want to thank you for warning us in advance."_

It wouldn't be too far off to say that she had been literally floored with shock. Not only was the trainer grateful for her aide, he was even thinking that _she_ might judge _him_ unworthy because of his… fragile state. It had… endeared Absol to this trainer. Even then, just to keep her pride, she had declared an intent to battle, which she did, and had a good time showing the prideful all-knowing-one his place, but then the trainer took things a little more seriously, and literally _wiped the floor_ with her, courtesy to that avian.

And then he had asked for her aid for a _ghost-hunt._

Bottom line. Absol loved her trainer.

She discarded some of the more… odd images that came to her mind, before a soul-wrenching scream reached her ears, screams that could only belong to one person on earth.

Her trainer.

* * *

In hindsight, seeing an odd behaviour from something so rudimentary as a pokeball should have been alarming in the first place, especially considering the location. The moment his fingers touched the surface of the pokeball, he felt a slight tingling on the surface of his fingers. Almost instantaneously, he felt _something shift,_ before paling as he saw a reddish hue form on the forest ground just below his feet, before engulfing him, as a wave of powerful energy slammed into him, pain coursing through his veins.

Ash Ketchum let out a soul-wrenching scream, as he felt the foreign energy literally burn his nerves, as his muscles contracted and squeezed, making him feel pain the likes of which he had never felt before.

An extremely bright light inundated the entire scene as Metagross fired up his Flash ability to maximum effect, before inundating the entire region with his psychic power. As Ash felt the pain slowly recede away, he was able to somehow hold himself from falling on the ground, as the shadows left him, receding away to the darkness of the woods further ahead, before belching hot, scorching flames towards Ash.

That was when something unexpected happened.

A blur of white suddenly jumped in front of him, before waving the crescent-like horn on her head in a twist, sending powerful psycho-cuts in the opposite direction, deflecting the raging flames. There, in front of Ash, guarding him protectively, and glaring at the ghosts, stood Absol, her horn glowing with the sentient darkness that her type thrived on.

"Absol…." He muttered. "Thank… you."

Absol grunted back in acknowledgement. She didn't deserve a thanks, not when she had been lax in her duties, her negligence allowing the otherworldly ones to have a shot at her trainer.

 _ **Trainer Ash, are you... all right?**_

"Metagross?" Ash whispered, half-delirious. "What just happened to me? I feel… strange, weak… my body's no longer paining, but it seems like my energy is slowly leaving me."

 _ **You have been cursed.**_

 _Cursed?_ Ash paled.

 _ **By the otherworldly one. Do not worry. You will be all right. The void-using feline, me… and the rest of our travelling companions will see to it.**_

 _The…. Thanks. I feel… I feel sleepy._

 _ **Do not sleep, trainer Ash If you do, the curse will increase in potency. If you sleep, you will die. Do not sleep.**_

Irrespective of the general idea, Ash Ketchum didn't really prefer dying. Not like this anyway. Alone, cured, in the middle of the forest, just like the ghost-trainer had… surrounded by his own pokémon without no one able to save him.

 _ **Trainer Ash?**_

 _I'll… I'll stay alive… awake, I mean. Don't worry._

 _ **That sounds like a good attempt at persuasion. Keep going and you might succeed.**_

 _Wise ass._ Ash couldn't help but feel slightly amused, even at such severe condition. He slowly pulled himself up, as he stared at the numerous reddish hues all around them, encircling them like Pidgeotto around Catterpie.

 _Pidgeotto… what a connection!_

Gyarados let out a powerful roar, and threw out a hyper beam towards the general direction, only to be intercepted midway by a sphere of concentrated ghostly energy, as several dozen- no wait, hundreds… hundreds of ghosts surrounded them from all sides.

And standing in front of them, facing an enraged Absol, was a Gengar, backed by two identical-looking Haunter on either side. Ash mildly noted that a majority of the ghost population surrounding them were tiny wood trunks, with ghostly faces on them—Phantump, he guessed—though there were quite a number of Trevenant as well.

"Gen…. Gar!" The shadow pokémon drawled audibly.

The pokedex activated automatically. **Haunter. The gas pokémon. Haunter is a dangerous Pokémon. If one beckons you while floating in darkness, you must never approach it. This Pokémon will try to lick you with its tongue and steal your life away. Because of its ability to slip through block walls, it is said to be from another dimension.**

There was a 'bing' sound before Dexter spoke again.

 **Gengar. The Shadow pokémon. Gengar's relationships are warped. It has no interest in opponents unless it perceives them as prey. It apparently wishes for a traveling companion. Since it was once human itself, it tries to create one by taking the lives of other humans.**

"Haunter…. And Gengar?" Ash stammered, watching at the three ghost pokémon standing before him.

 _Wait… three? Could they be the same three Haunter… that once belonged to that trainer?_

Gengar muttered something ominous in its own tongue. Ash didn't understand what it was, but it was something that made Absol literally shake with rage. Her entire body was now glowing something _shadowy…_

 _ **They are asking you to release the otherworldly tree that you captured.**_

"And if I don't?" Ash challenged weakly.

 _ **Then they would slowly the life out of you… and apparently kill us as well.**_

There was no choice. Even dealing with that lone Trevenant had taken him to fetch some of the hard-hitters from his team. With the entire ghost community after their lives… saying no would mean a delayed and horrific death.

"I'll release it." Ash answered without hesitation. "Nothing is worth more than the cost of my friends' life."

 _ **Your trust is appreciated, trainer Ash, but we are able to take care of ourselves.**_

"No, Metagross." Ash countered. "I have had enough. I already caused a lot of problems by challenging Mewtwo. I cannot keep doing like this, putting your life on the line just for the sake of my pride." He turned towards the Gengar, observing how the shadow pokémon was a little taller than himself, almost closer to a little less of six feet. Even the two Haunter looked slightly taller than him.

Ash slowly reached down towards the pokeball, only for something _soft_ to beat his hand away.

It was Absol's horn.

"Absol?"

The white feline grunted, shaking her head. She turned around, facing the shadow pokémon, before grunting something. Whatever it was must have been extremely significant, since Ash felt their leer almost double after Absol made her statement.

 _ **The three otherworldly ones in front… are the leaders of this… community, trainer Ash.**_

 _I kind 'a got that already. What did Absol say?_

 _ **She challenged the Gengar. The most powerful one here.**_

Ash's eyes had turned to saucers. "Over what?"

 _ **Captivity. Should she win, the Gengar would be subservient to you.**_

 _What? Is she insane? Why would-?_

 _ **If she loses, then we fight for our lives and get out of the forest. Either way, we do not surrender.**_

Metagross hummed softly, before speaking in his native tongue. After his… declaration, Rhydon, Crawdaunt, and even Gyarados made their own declarations in a cacophony of voices.

"Hey, what are you guys all saying?" Ash asked, confused.

 _ **That we agree with Absol.**_

A pokeball on Ash's waist automatically activated as red light shot out, releasing Kadabra, who instantly raised his spoon in defense, looking at the multitude of ghosts surrounding them from all sides.

 _ **What did you get me into this time round, midget?**_

Metagross sent a psychic message, as Kadabra sighed, before raising his head, and voicing his own agreement.

"You too?" Ash asked weakly.

 _ **Pride, midget. Pride. Pride of a psychic. You wouldn't understand.**_

 _Right._

Ash looked up, as the Gengar looked positively murderous, before yelling back something.

 _ **They said that the curse running in your body will slowly engulf you, draining you of your life force, the longer you stay in the forest.**_

 _And?_

 _ **And that the shadow will play with the feline slowly, making her watch as life trickles out of you.**_

Ash gulped.

In return, Absol simply snarled, and sent a powerful psycho-cut towards the Gengar, who turned incorporeal, allowing the psychic attack to literally pass through him, without dealing any damage.

 _ **The feline said she'd enjoy tormenting the shadow day after day, every day after he's subservient to you.**_

 _When did my life go so crazy?_

 _ **A precise moment in time is difficult to ascertain. All that is Metagross believe that life is a cumulated product of several million choices, compounded upon each other over the passage of time.**_

 _I didn't ask for clarification._ Ash sighed, staring hopefully at Absol, who seemed to have taken a place some fifteen feet away from Gengar, as the ghosts drew away from the duo, not wanting to be corrupted by the energies of the void-using feline.

 _I wonder if Absol will obey my commands right now._

 _ **She is a user of the void. The conceptualization of an impossibility, even for the otherworldly ones. I believe it is a rationally correct approach to sit and watch.**_

… _. Awesome._

* * *

 _This is nothing like it ever expected it to be._ Ash thought to himself, as he rested on top of Metagross's head, the steel-type slowly injecting his psychic power inside his body, to resist the effects of the curse that Gengar had placed upon him. Meanwhile, said Gengar was standing opposite Absol, with the entire ghost community watching from the side-lines of what was possibly going to be a battle-onto-death match.

Suddenly, Gengar's eyes turned red, as the pokémon turned incorporeal, vanishing into the darkness, only to be replaced by several illusory versions of it, surrounding Absol on all sides. Laughing maniacally, the illusory Gengar conjured up Shadow Balls, all of them aimed towards the Absol in the middle, whose horn was raised up, concentrating dark energies to extreme proportions.

With a yell, the shadow balls shot towards the Absol, who simply radiated out a dark aura out of her body, as the shadow balls shattered upon contact, proving the immunity that dark-types enjoyed over ghost-type attacks. Angered, the illusory Gengar raised their claw, which glowed deadly purple, before launching into Absol from all sides.

Absol lowered her horn, as the illusory ghosts attacked, sweeping through the ground, her fully-charged night-slash in effect, and the illusory forms vanishing upon contact. She almost cringed in pain as the ghost's claws—lined with poison from the very ground- slashed past her fur into the tissue. That however, did not neutralize the glee, knowing that her dark move had managed a direct strike at the ghost.

The illusory form faded as the real Gengar once again appeared into view, her large, red eyes gleaming with unbridled ecstasy and rage at the same time. The attack was a success, and soon, the dark-type would fall to the effects of the poison. However, Gengar hadn't escaped without injury, as she could feel the _negative_ energies of the void-user spreading through her clusters of chaotic energy. If not tended to, then it would resist her ability to turn incorporeal at will, which could be a problem. Either way, the void-user and the human weren't getting out of the forest alive. Gengar would make sure of that.

She stood straight, grinning maliciously, as she gathered the otherworldly energies from the ambience all around to trigger the next attack.

 _First point to us both. For now._

* * *

Ash watched with horror as Gengar slowly converged the ghostly energies from the forest around him, from the ghosts around him, as he created powerful, deadly, scorching flames within the gap between his claws. Then, the shadow pokémon glowed for an instant, repeating another double-team attack, only this time, all of the illusions were preparing for that fire-type move.

 _Will-o-wisp._ Ash remembered. Deadly, and extremely difficult to put down, these ghostly flames were of the fire-type, and yet, _almost_ invulnerable to water-type attacks. Absol might be a dark-type, but no amount of _darkness_ could protect her from raw, primal rage of fire.

Ash coughed, barely noticing the trace amounts of blood that shot out his mouth.

* * *

Absol gathered the raw energies inside her physical form. Ghost-types were tricky, but that, in a way, made them predictable of sorts. She would just need to _predict_ things correctly to get out of this situation. She could see the powerful flames gathering all around her, and knew it very well that suffering a direct hit from those flames would ensure absolute defeat, and a pending death.

That wasn't an option.

There was only one thing that could deal with the impending disaster, and it would require a good amount of power to pull off. Chances were, that after conducting it, she'd fall unconscious, leaving her trainer alone amidst the otherworldly ones.

No, that too, wasn't an option.

That left only one way out, and Absol wasn't sure if she could do it in the first place.

She sent a sideward glance at her trainer, who coughed. She recognized the smell, almost reminiscing the coppery taste of human blood.

 _Blood? The curse of the otherworldly one needs to be stopped, and quickly._

Absol made a decision, as her eyes began to glow an ominous grey.

Gengar meanwhile, had enough time gathering the ghostly flames as she projected them towards the dark-type feline, content in the belief that she would be roasted in them. What happened however, was something none of the ghosts had ever anticipated.

* * *

"Whoa… what is that?" Ash muttered in surprise, looking at Absol. The white feline had raised her horn like a sword, radiating an immensely dark aura out of it, before quickly spinning around twice, and projecting the darkness outward, almost like a tornado of darkness, intercepting the ghostly flames which met their match, and got deflected from the powerful gusts generated by the sudden attack.

 **Swords dance.** Ash checked the pokedex. **A frenetic dance that raises attack power, used in both offense and defence.**

 _Whoa… she is using the swords dance to deflect the flames back towards the illusory Gengar. But that means-_

Before Ash could finish comprehending that statement, Gengar's eyes glowed with frightening rage as she witnessed her own attack deflected back at her. It was a ghostly move and hence, would affect her, but at the same time, the winds would not. That meant, that the feline inside was vulnerable to physical attacks should she manage to overcome the flames and strike her.

 _A challenge. Just like the old days._

And Gengar jumped, head-on into the flames.

She could have turned herself incorporeal to allow the flames to pass through her, but doing so would immensely shorten the time she needed to hone her poisonous claws for a final strike. To perform the fatal attack, she would have to accept a fatal injury. That was acceptable, since it would mean a win. Once Absol was dealt with, the human was free game.

 _Not that he isn't, anyway._

The powerful flames scorched the shadow pokémon, who somehow managed to hold her own screeches of pain, instead turning her pain and anger into focus, as her poisonous claws sharpened to great lengths.

 _Just a little more._

She crossed through the flames, through the wind, sailing past the ineffective wind, as she slashed with one arm towards Absol, who just as expected, halted the move with her horn, which was submerged in _negative_ energy. Gengar grinned, raising her other arm, as she shoved it towards Absol's gut, ready to see her entrails shoot out from the other end just after the strike would end. The shadow pokémon's arm shot towards the white fur, the claws glowing with poison-

And _stopped._

Just like that.

Absol leapt out of Gengar's range, raising her maw, and fired a powerful dark pulse towards the shell-shocked Gengar who couldn't fathom what had just happened. One moment Absol was there, ready to be butchered. The other moment, she herself was trapped in what seemed to be a mesh of psychic energy.

Absol lifted her maw, and fired what was possibly her strongest attack, right at Gengar's face, the psychic traps completely transparent to it, as the sphere of concentrated dark energy slammed face-first into Gengar, who let out a screech of agony, before the sheer momentum of the dark pulse sent it slamming into the earth.

Absol reared her head high.

 _Second point to me._

* * *

"What…. Was that? How did a third attack just come out like that?" Ash murmured, completely overwhelmed at how Absol had cast a perfectly executed psychic attack between two consecutive dark attacks.

 _ **You misunderstand, trainer Ash. Even someone as accomplished as the feline cannot lay a full-powered psychic trap between two full-powered dark moves. It is… not compatible.**_

 _Then… how?_

 _ **Future sight.**_

 _Future sight?_

 _ **It is a move we psychics can perform, in which we manipulate psychic energies through time and space, to a time in the future. When the time arrives, the attack manifests in the real world, unexpected. That… is future sight.**_

 _Whoa…_ Ash was completely overwhelmed. If a dark-type could use future sight this effectively, Ash shuddered to wonder what would happen if a pure psychic type like Metagross or Alakazam would use it.

 _ **It is very powerful, but equally draining. The further you send it into time, the exponential the consumption of energy. The feline must be tired already, but the battle is won. Things should go smoothly from here on out.**_

As if to contradict his statement, the Gengar raised her head, glaring at the feline murderously.

 _-_ _ **Well, for some definitions of smoothly, I suppose.**_

* * *

Absol almost lost it when she saw the murderous, bright red eyes of Gengar suddenly light up, as the shadow pokémon pushed herself up, before dissipating into dense fumes, which zoomed all around, absorbing the ambient energies of the forest, gathered ghostly energy into itself, before slowly condensing back into her corporeal self.

Absol stepped back. There was no hope now. Even if she would manage to land another successive attack, Gengar would simply absorb the ambient energy from the surroundings to boost her power. There was no other end to this fight except an imminent, brutal, humiliating loss.

But she wouldn't go down.

Absol would fight to her last breath.

The white-furred feline snarled in fury, ready to pounce at the ghost before her. She gathered momentum for a powerful night slash, ready to propel herself and-

"Use dark pulse, full power!"

A volley of spheres, all of them concentrated with dark energy, showered into the area from all sides, towards the unsuspecting community of ghosts, right in the centre of the attack. None of the ghosts would escape out of this.

No one.

Far in the shad0ws, Executive Butch smiled.

* * *

 **Sometime ago.**

"Is it ready?" Butch questioned for the nth time. Just like the Boss had said, the use of those… _crystals_ had literally made themselves… almost invisible to the ghostly-senses, just like dark creatures themselves. Further, he must also have incomparable luck, Butch mused, to have come to attack at a time when the ghosts were engrossed in a single event, in a closed, specific location. Placing the grunts at appropriate geographical points, and by extension, the Umbreon packs as well, they had created a literal _kill-box._

Butch smirked. Ironic, that they were using the setup to capture _ghosts._

"We're ready, sir. Targets locked on."

A silly grin floated on Butch's lips. "Use Dark Pulse. Full power."

* * *

Call it her super-sensory perception of upcoming disasters, or merely her sixth sense, but Absol simply leapt to her side, sprinting towards her trainer, who, still sitting on top of Metagross, paled in horror at the dark pulses falling towards him and the rest of the pokémon. The steel-type hadn't even cast shields, knowing very well that no amount of psychic shield would stop an attack.

This was a kill-box, ensured by someone out there to make sure that the ghosts, and by extension, her trainer, would be injured beyond comprehension.

She leapt towards her trainer, her horn brimming with dark energies, ready to deflect any of those spheres that might come remotely close to them, hoping that the rest of her trainer's pokémon would be able to survive the attack as well.

It was… unnecessary.

A huge draconic shadow engulfed her, her trainer as well as the other pokémon beside her, as the mighty sea serpent let out an angry roar, encircling her powerful, draconic body around them to shield them from the incoming foray of dark energy. From the screams, it was clear that the serpent was being hurt, the only hope being that her draconic scales would go a long away to cancel out the momentum of it all, though a more selfish part of her was gleeful that she and her trainer were now safe.

At least for now.

If only the same could be said about the ghosts themselves.

Unknown to their perceptions, the dark pulses slammed into them, the ghosts noticing it only too late as the innate negative energy literally inundated their senses, turning them weak and incapable of turning into non-corporeal form.

"Another!" Came a loud, foreign voice, as another set of volleys shot off, falling towards the crowd in the center. Few ghosts could manage to _avoid_ it.

"Capture the phantumps!" the man in the shadows yelled. "Every single one of them. Leave the rest to the Umbreon." He stepped forward from the shadows, inciting a gasp from a certain trainer beneath a Gyarados, who recognized the man- Butch yelled, "I'll handle whatever else is left behind."

And several flashes of red light manifested the pokémon he had brought with him.

* * *

Ash gasped in shock as he recognized the man in the shadows, stepping up front. It was the same Rocket executive with the absurdly powerful Magmortar- one who had defeated both Gyarados and Rhydon with a single move each. And now, he was there with an army of- Umbreon, Ash realized—and grunts on all sides, possibly to capture all the ghost pokémon over here.

 _Just like back at the ship._

He wouldn't let them do that, knowing very well that once the ghosts were dealt with, he and his pokémon would come next, and considering that he and Metagross had thrown the man off the deck, there was little chance of the man ignoring and letting them be.

 _The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that._

"Aid the ghosts." Ash commanded, much to everyone's surprise. Even the vicious Gengar looked at him with surprise in her red eyes. "These guys are Team Rocket. They will capture you and then force you to obey their commands." He addressed the ghosts. "Be careful."

The Gengar looked at him with an inscrutable expression, before grinning widely as she sprang towards Butch, only to be stopped by an even larger ghost, standing on her path.

 _Another ghost type?_ Ash lifted his pokedex.

 **Dusclops. The beacon pokémon. Dusclops's body is completely hollow—there is nothing at all inside. It is said that its body is like a black hole. This Pokémon will absorb anything into its body, but nothing will ever come back out. It hypnotizes its foe by waving its hands in a macabre manner and by bringing its single eye to bear. The hypnotized foe is made to do Dusclops's bidding.**

"Avoid looking into its eyes." Ash commanded, sending his team forth to battle against the Executive's pokémon. He turned towards Gyarados, who was obviously in pain. "Thank you, Gyarados. If not for you, I'd be dead. Get some rest." He raised his pokeball, sucking the pokémon back in. Plucking out the rest of his pokeballs, he let loose.

Hell came to the forest.

* * *

It was surreal. In the pitch blackness of the Forest of Illusions, the majority of the ghostly species—Phantump, a ghostly species that possesses fallen tree trunks, were getting attacked from every side by vicious Umbreon, quickly followed by getting sucked into those characteristic _black pokeballs_ that Team Rocket used. By the looks of it, they seemed like an unregistered, and slightly weaker versions of the _Ultraball,_ but nevertheless, did their job with ease. On the other hand, the Trevenant population, reduced to less than ten, were fighting back some of the Umbreon, raising roots and branches to slam towards the grunts, even succeeding in tearing through some of the men—killing them instantly, though the latter couldn't be said about the Umbreon, which were much more nimble than their owners.

Meanwhile, Gengar and the two Haunter shot towards the Rocket Executive, with Gengar—despite her already tired disposition, was fighting a losing battle against a clearly more powerful Dusclops, who seemed to be empowered with dark-type moves as well. With the already existing dark-type energy inside her body, the battle was becoming more and more difficult for the shadow pokémon.

The two Haunter had jumped to kill the Executive, only to be intercepted by two Houndoom, belching out flames at the gas pokémon, who instantly pushed away, having to engage the fire types. The dark types barked, belching out more flames towards the pokémon, who tried to counter with shadow balls.

"Bah!" The executive barked. "Useless vermin. Magmortar, burn them to crisps."

And the giant spitfire pokémon came into view, sprouting flames all over, propelling fireballs from the two cannons its upper appendages had transformed into. The fireballs fell all over the place, setting fire to the trees, much to the ghosts' screeches, seeing their haven being destroyed to ashes.

"Poliwhirl, use water pulse. Crawdaunt, bubble beam. Clear the flames!" came Ash's voice, who somehow managed to stand on the ground, holding his hand close to his mouth, coughing out at random, spewing out more blood each and every time.

"Rhydon, tackle that Magmortar. Lairon, help him." Ash paused. "Metagross. Leave me here. Rhydon needs your help. Kadabra-"

 _ **I can do better from a distance. Let Metagross do the brawl. I will protect you and deal damage from afar.**_

Ash considered it. "All right." He turned to the ground. "Shelgon, Charmander… don't hold back. Fire with everything you've got. We need to stop that man." He held his final pokeball in his hand. "Go, Pidgeot!"

And the entire battle stopped still for a moment, as the overly large avian appeared in the air, screeching angrily at her trainer's condition and the fighting all around.

Ash coughed more blood, pointing towards the Rockets, snarling as he did. "Wreak havoc!"

* * *

Ever since his evolution from Bagon, Shelgon had been lesser and lesser of his trainer of date, though that was partially true since Ash had been in a coma for three days. Not that Shelgon really minded, because Shelgon were, by nature, _programmed_ to stay alone inside caverns, waiting in patience for its inner metamorphosis to finally finish, so that he can evolve, spread his wings and soar over the skies. However, the metamorphosis was far from completion at the moment, which meant that Shelgon was now limited to his extremely heavy body, his movements much more sluggish, and his ability to tackle into opponents, changing speed and direction midway nigh impossible at the moment. In fact, it would perhaps be correct to say that the Shelgon-state wasn't an evolution at all- at least from his own perspective—it was more like a cocoon-stage, one that signified that his wish to fly was now near. However, just like the _night is darkest before dawn_ , similarly Bagon lost its somewhat limited abilities as a Shelgon, having to wait until it could evolve into a Salamence, where a multitude of abilities would be available to him.

As unfortunate as it was, the present situation didn't seem to fit into his fold of perception. Here was he, standing alongside Charmander, trying to do his level best to strike at the Umbreon who were awfully nimble, more than they had any right t0 be. No thanks to his anatomy, he was _forced_ to stand still and belch dragon breath attacks at the enemy, hoping it would strike true, while the other pokémon belonging to his trainer were fighting the immensely powerful ones out there, and from the looks, weren't faring very badly. Even Ash himself looked remarkably ill, and even then, the remarkably dense trainer was standing quite close to where the main fighting was going on.

At least the psi pokémon standing beside him would protect him.

 _Probably._

Shelgon corrected his statement.

 _The night is darkest before it turns absolutely pitch-black._

* * *

With Metagross and Rhydon doing their best to deal with that annoyingly powerful Magmortar, the two Haunter had left their flank, to use their ghostly abilities on the grunts, using their claws to literally tear through the grunts, digging into their entrails whenever getting the chance, along with the occasional hex and dream-eater to regain some of their power to carry out the next attack. Unlike Gengar, they had never evolved, choosing to stay in their state, happy to follow Gengar's commands after Ethan's death. A part of them could somehow… relate to how the human was behaving right now—fighting alongside his pokémon against opposing forces, even at the brink of death. Perhaps… perhaps there was a slight possibility that this particular trainer was more like Ethan and less like the robbers that had robbed him of his life?

The Haunter duo focussed their ghostly energies, getting in tune with the ambient energy of the forest. It was time for them to use their powers to the fullest.

* * *

Pidgeot was loving it. As Pidgeotto, her air slashes needed to be smaller, precise, so that she could focus the shockwaves enough to actually weaken the opponent. Now though, it was hardly a matter, since she could automatically channel energy at much higher quantities without battling an eye. The air slashes tore through the grunts, sometimes even slicing them into halves, a fate that some of the Umbreons shared with them as well—though, Pidgeot couldn't help but notice that majority of the Phantump population had already vanished— _captured-_ she translated, which meant that victory was pyrrhic at best. She would need to do some damage control.

At least towards the grunts' side of the battle, so that she could begin to deal with the Executive and that annoying fire-breathing abomination of his.

Quickly deciding on an approach, she raised her wingspan, manipulating the ambient ghostly energies of the forest, and began to weave a devastating combination.

* * *

Metagross slammed another powerful meteor mash into Magmortar, this time striking true as the monster fell to the back, only to lift one of his cannons and blast scorching flames at him, the flames literally slamming him to the ground, as the Magmortar jumped off the ground, ready to end the battle with a powerful body slam. The funny thing was, even Metagross knew it. After that kind of firepower hitting him, a single body slam from that giant of a fire monster would send him reeling into unconsciousness.

That however, was not an option.

He watched the body of Magmortar, which shot high up into the air, propelled by his flames, before stopping in mid-air, and using the full might of gravity to end up on him. Metagross concentrated on the previous day of his training, on the one single move that his trainer had made him learn, practice and repeat nonstop until he could pull it right.

And Metagross began to glow.

Psychic power flooded through him, reinforcing the steel-typing in him to power up what could be considered in many ways, the ultimate steel-type move.

 _Flash Cannon._

His entire body flooded with raw power, as he shone like liquid light, before concentrating all that energy into the X on his front, almost demanding an outlet to destroy. Metagross gave it one.

Magmortar.

The shaft of liquid light slammed into a surprised Magmortar face-first, stopping his downward descent and instead, pushing him further upward until the light died out, and Magmortar, now wounded, fell from the sky, speeding towards the earth. Meanwhile, Metagross concentrated his remaining energy into his top-right appendage, and just when Magmortar was at his own height, slammed a full-powered Meteor Mash into him, sending the spitfire pokémon tumbling down the earth, before striking against a rock, which cracked instantly.

Rhydon, it seemed, was merely waiting for this, as he made an excited roar before slamming his feet on the ground, sending an earthquake, that shocked the hell out of most of the pokémon standing there, including and specially, the injured Magmortar.

Just how he liked it. Rhydon grinned.

Metagross let out a mental sigh. Maybe there was a chance for them after - the thought died midway, as he saw the fire monster slowly push one of his appendages up.

 _ **Oh come on. This is simply unfair.**_

* * *

 _Ominous wind_. A powerful wind-based attack in which the caster channels ghostly energy to flow with the wind created, to attack the opponent. The attack is useful against those who are sensitive to ghostly energies—humans, psychics and the like. However, some ghosts-types, like Gengar, have the ability to use will-o-wisp, or ghostly flames to combine with ominous wind to create a more deadly combination. One, which in terms of a fire-attack, is more devastating than a full-powered flamethrower, and in terms of ghostly attacks, leaves little for the opponent to do beside groaning in pain.

However, neither ominous wind and will-o-wisp separately, nor any combination of them thereof, could ever hope to match that which then manifested inside the Forest of Illusions, courtesy to the mega-evolved Pidgeot.

Using her innate ability to shape the air currents, Pidgeot literally _manipulated_ the ambient ghostly energies to her will, channelling them into specific paths just like ominous wind, only this time, it was in the form of a twister.

An extremely large, extremely powerful twister of swirling ghost energy.

With one single pair of beats from her wings, Pidgeot directed the _ominous-wind-twister_ into motion.

"Ha!" Butch laughed. "The kid never learns. Magmortar, they have high hopes on that twister. Burn their hopes like the previous time."

Magmortar, who seemed to get up and stand, no matter the attacks on its person, grinned maniacally before belching huge torrents of flame into the twisters.

That, in hindsight, was a mistake.

As Pidgeotto, she was able to create _twisters,_ but controlling them once formed was beyond her scope and ability. However, the increase in strength that Pidgeot had gained post her mega-evolution was beyond her own comprehension. With little effort, she took the swirling disaster- a fusion of Magmortar's powerful flames coupled with the twister of ghostly energy—and directed it towards the grunts and their pokémon—literally evaporating them once the swirling monster ravaged past them. In exactly _twenty seven_ seconds, not a single grunt, nor his Umbreon, were left alive and standing. In fact, they weren't present there at all.

Only if that were the end of it all.

Pidgeot gave another sweep, once again manipulating the currents, changing the path of the fiery tornado, which now turned towards the Rocket chopper, as the fire tornado lashed against it, before breaking off and exploding out with the Rocket chopper.

Butch was traumatized beyond comprehension. His chopper was destroyed. The grunts were dead. The Umbreon packs were killed. Even his own pokémon were on the verge of losing. The only good thing was that the mission—capture the phantump population—had been a success, since immediately after capture, those _black pokeballs_ automatically vanished, teleporting back to the base as they were programmed to do.

Now he just had t0 kill this kid and then escape from here. "Gaaah!" He roared in unbridled fury. "Kill that bird, Magmortar. Burn her to the crisp!"

Magmortar would, but then he was stopped by Butch, pointing towards something else, much more higher in priority, that had begun to take place.

* * *

The two Haunter, despite Pidgeot's own acquisition of the ambient energies of the forest, had been busy concentrating on otherworldly energy, fuelling themselves with the ambient energy of the environment. One of the features of _ominous wind_ is that it raises the powers of any nearby ghost, something that the duo had used to maximum efficiency, when Pidgeot created the twister.

Gengar was busy battling with the Dusclops, with either of them suffering from injuries, the former more than the latter. The Houndoom had been dealt with already, the sneak attack with _venoshock_ more than enough to take them out of commission, leaving the Magmortar, who was being dealt with by the hulking Metagross and Rhydon, as well as that overwhelmingly large avian. That left Dusclops, who looked considerably weakened after battling with Gengar.

The Haunter duo concentrated their energies together, creating a mass of pure chaos, moulding it into a spherical shape, creating one of their most potent attacks.

 _The shadow ball._

The duo grinned, before projecting the shadow ball towards the Dusclops, who also forced out a shadow ball of his own- the two colliding forces of otherworldly energies trying to get the best out of the other, creating a collision in the middle, with either end doing their best to propel it further. Gengar was almost unconscious, but somehow… just _somehow,_ she managed to pick herself up, and channel her remaining power to augment the Haunter duo in their shadow ball, pushing the collision towards Dusclops now. From a corner of her eye, she could observe the human trainer—who looked almost dead on his feet- reminding herself to remove the curse off the human. He was a good one, she knew now. After all, his and his pokémon's contribution were not inconsiderable, not by any length. Besides, the battle with the white-haired feline needed to be considered as well-said feline now having joined with the tadpole who was doing his best to get rid of the flames.

"Magmortar!" Butch sneered, making sure that all of his pokémon (save Magmortar, and of course Dusclops, who was pushing the shadow ball backwards) were back inside their pokeballs, "get ready!" He released a single Abra, who looked surprised at being summoned. "Get ready to teleport." The Executive sneered. "Magmortar, use fire blast on that shadow ball collision."

"NO!" Ash yelled, racing towards the collision, which was only a couple of feet away from Metagross and Rhydon.

Magmortar concentrated on a ball of the hottest fires, before propelling them into the ongoing collision.

And the world was consumed by light and fire.

* * *

 **AN: Right, the first half of the Forest Arc is done. Next chapter finishes it. As always, if you think that the chapter was to your liking, do put it a review.**

 **Thank you.**


	17. A pyrrhic victory

The entire place was in ruins. The trees were burning, the Phantump population captured and transported to the Rocket bases somewhere on the planet. There were no traces of Trevenant either, however few they were initially. The forest looked completely alien now, not a single thing reminiscent of how it was a couple of hours ago.

Just like the St. Anne, prior to the attack and after the devastation had been wrought on it by Team Rocket.

However, the entire battle had resulted in a pyrrhic victory at best, on both sides. Executive Butch had come in with an army of grunts, each having a single Umbreon at command. He had with himself, his precious Magmortar, several Houndoom, and that powerful Dusclops. Sure, he had accomplished his mission—the Phantumps were captured and transported instantaneously to the Team Rocket Base, but the cost had been paid by his entire army.

Not a single grunt, nor any of the Umbreons were left alive. The Houndoom had their entrails expelled out, yelping in pain at the corner. His Magmortar had suffered several injuries and would in all probability, need a lot of treatment before he would be of any actual use in the future. The only one still active was the Dusclops, who was currently, locked in a shadow-ball battle against the three ghosts of the Gastly-line.

Butch stared in horror, as he felt himself surrounded. He had lost, horribly so. His chopper was gone, while the brat's pokémon were still up and battling. And then there were the three ghosts to be considered, and the overly powerful shadow-energy flaring the middle of them, formed as a result of colliding otherworldly energies.

 _Wait._

An idea germinated in his mind. It would not be without cost, but he had lost a lot. What did a single pokémon even matter now? He could always get more. Besides, if done right, it would, surely kill the kid, as well as the ghosts. If he were lucky, that powerful; Metagross and Rhydon would be affected as well.

Yes, revenge did taste good. Butch grinned.

He plucked out a single remaining pokeball from his waist. This, he reminded himself, was a pokémon he had meant to use as a quick exit. Never in his mind had he even suspected that he would need to use it so soon.

The pokeball released red light, condensing into an Abra, as the psi pokémon looked up at its owner.

"Get ready to teleport." Butch barked, holding on to the somewhat frail arm of the little psychic. One more attack, and he would recall Magmortar, escaping before the flames from Hell consumed everything in this place.

"Magmortar," he ordered, as the fire-breathing behemoth managed to stand, ready to fire at his command. "Use fire blast on that shadow ball collision."

* * *

Fire Blast. A rather powerful fire-type move, in which the caster creates a concentrated mesh of scorching flames, before propelling them towards the victim, who is then scorched in an all-consuming blaze. When used by someone like Magmortar, who had some of the highest stats in all fire-types in the world, it was a fatal weapon of destruction. Considering that ghostly energy was a good conductor of fire, an accurate example being the infamous will-o-wisp itself, the addition of such an attack on the colliding shadow-balls could only mean one thing.

Destruction.

Ash widened his eyes, as he noticed the spitfire pokémon send out the fire attack towards the colliding ghostly energies, before his attention turned towards Metagross and Rhydon, who were taken by surprise, and were barely a couple of feet away from the impending disaster. For a moment, he forgot that he didn't have Metagross's steel exterior, or Rhydon's nigh impenetrable hide. For a moment, he forgot that his own legs where in a fragile state, and that he wasn't supposed to run. For a moment, he forgot that he was still under Gengar's curse, and was almost devoid of energy, barely managing to remain on his feet during the course of the battle.

Ash forgot all of it, as he leapt towards them, his lungs paining as he yelled out…

"NO…."

And then the world exploded in light and fire.

* * *

Kadabra, in general, were pacifist by nature. The psi pokémon found humans interesting, especially considering their shared love for order in the universe, and importantly, their own ability to be like them in some respects. That was why most species of the Abra line were found in cities, amongst the populace. However, that didn't mean that Kadabra didn't, or couldn't be battlers. After all, their final form Alakazam, were one of, if not the most powerful psychics in the world.

However, there was one thing that Kadabra wanted more than anything else.

Perfection.

When he had evolved from the Abra stage, Delia had told him that he had all the time to hone his power, develop his skill, procure new abilities and manifest them. And he had done so too. Anything that was worth knowing, Kadabra knew it. It took a long time, but he had done it. Each and every technique that he could learn naturally, he had learnt it, and perfected it. Years of due diligence had gotten him the result.

Kadabra had attained perfection as a psychic.

However, that didn't quench his ambition. He had asked Delia to imbue him (with aid of those infernal devices the humans called TMs), move sets that belonged to other types, but which could be learned by the Kadabra line.

Move sets of the otherworldly type. Move sets of the void-users. Move sets of the common animals, and even some move sets of mindless beasts. After all, anything that was usable was beneficial to the enlightened mind.

That was until a week ago, when Delia had asked him to do something _odd._

She had sent him to aid his son, Ash Ketchum.

Ash Ketchum. Delia's child. The midget. The nuisance. The little human who liked to mess with Kadabra on a good day, and even more so, on a bad day. The child who had started on his journey to become a trainer.

Kadabra hadn't understood why. Oh he knew the official reason—protection for the kid who was going _ghost-hunting._ Kadabra believed he recognized bullshit when he saw it.

And Delia was, plain and simple, bullshitting all over the place. And Kadabra, despite all his enlightenment, could fathom the reason behind it. Why send him, and not… the Alakazam from the lab? In battle, an Alakazam would be a better option should Ash have to fight against ghosts. Better yet, why not send one of the ghosts? And yet, Delia had stressed on sending him over.

He didn't know why back then.

The good thing (or the bad, matter upon perspective), was that Kadabra found the answer (or at least, what he thought was the answer) in no less than a couple of hours of being in the boy's presence, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

Mewtwo.

An unfathomably powerful psychic, and yet _not._ A being with powers as powerful as the Legendaries, and yet _not one of them._ A being with skill, one that came with great experience, and yet… he felt barely older than the human child himself.

And he was interested in _acquiring_ Ash for himself, as his property, because of… strange likenesses. And Ash, by virtue of the same… strange likenesses, wanted to reverse.

It was almost like looking at a single thing and its mirror image through the mirror of time. Ash Ketchum, young and inexperienced, but with skill. Purposeless. Hoping that finding power would give him purpose. Wishing to build the strongest team on earth.

On the other end, Mewtwo… young and inexperienced, but with skill. Purposeless. Power beyond comprehension (even to himself, Kadabra felt). Hoping to find someone like him would give him purpose. Wishing to be the most powerful on earth.

It was like looking at one self through a broken mirror shard, and yet, these two mirror-images, who should have been on the same side, are antagonistic to each other. Mewtwo… it seemed, hated the fact that someone just as purposeless like him, and was doing all he could to make others happy, hoping to find purpose in them, instead of achieving power for himself. Ash, it seemed, hated Mewtwo, because someone just as purposeless as him, was doing all he could to gain power, even at the expense at others, when he should be using that power to aid others, and find his own purpose through them.

And now Kadabra was stuck in the rivalry between the two.

One year. The boy had one year to train, to progress, to grow strong, and to achieve the impossibly lofty heights he had set for himself… quite ironic for someone so purposeless….

And his team, despite being powerful at first look, was in shatters.

Shelgon. A pseudo-legendary baby dragon. Stuck in his shell. Needed a lot of time, training and care before he could evolve.

Poliwhirl. The tadpole was strong, and growing stronger. However, his diligence was severely lacking, and it seemed, even the kid sensed it at times, which was why he used alternative incentives to get his job done.

Rhydon. The beast was strong, and yet… had an extremely limited move set. An experienced battler should be able to figure him out in a minute.

The serpent. Gyarados. Powerful and deadly at first sight, but horribly untrained, a true child on deeper notice.

Crawdaunt, the crustacean. Too much pride, and yet, too little talent.

Charmander. A deformed creature, still stuck in his baby-form, frail, useless.

Lairon. New, and excitable, but lacking in experience.

Pidgeot. Overwhelmingly powerful, but unable to truly comprehend the true depths of her own power.

And finally, Metagross. A pseudo-legendary. A psychic, like himself. Jumped up into his final stage, because he wanted brawl over his psychic awareness. So much talent, and yet, so poor decision-making skills. Disappointing.

In fact, the only one of any value in the entire team seemed to be the void-using feline, Absol. Experienced, and with skill to back it up. Ruthless, and one who understood and appreciated her own limits. Kadabra could respect that.

Of course, Kadabra had underestimated her, and lost the battle. That was still acceptable. After all, Kadabra wasn't a battler.

A team with the potential to be one of the strongest ever, but currently in shatters. Yes, helping the midget with directions seemed like a good way to improve his own abilities, Kadabra mused. He had gained perfection, and now it was time to impart that to others, and who better than her son's team to begin with? This must have been the reason why Delia had sent him here.

Kadabra believed he had finally comprehended the actions of his trainer.

He had been dead wrong.

* * *

The moment Kadabra saw the fire blast shooting towards the churning mass of otherworldly energy, he was alarmed. His first reaction, in such a situation, would have been to teleport away, consequences be damned. But then, he saw something even more alarming.

The midget was running, despite being fragile, despite being cursed, despite having no backup, was racing head-on into it.

 _ **You fool!**_ Kadabra cursed loudly. _**I didn't come here to have you killed today!**_

The fool in question, didn't seem to bother listening at all, as he raced, having eyes only for the beast and the foolish steel behemoth who had been stupidly taken off-guard.

 _ **You owe me, for this. Delia.**_

And Kadabra called in his entire psychic awareness, sharpened to the Tee, into the execution of a single command.

 **Hold.**

His psychic powers concentrated, his awareness extended, forming a protective shield all around the churning mass of ghostly energy. It was difficult, very difficult, trying to hold otherworldly energy, especially something this _thick,_ and this invasive with psychic powers. It was like trying to hold oil with empty hands. Despite his best attempts, he could _feel_ the otherworldly auras seep out of his shields, ready to meet the fire blast, which was simply the matchstick for the hay heap, something that would ignite it, and bring the wrath of Hell onto the world.

The flames hit the shield, and came in contact with the shadow energies.

And it exploded.

Kadabra was almost thrown back by the sheer backlash of his shields breaking, but he held on, imposing more and more shields into place as the explosion kept tearing through them. Even though it was visible for now, Kadabra knew it.

 _It is beyond my power to contain this… explosion._

But control he must. Else the midget would die, and while he didn't specifically care, the ghosts on either end, or the midget's pokémon would probably die as well.

 _Not on my watch._

 _Not on my… damned watch._

And Kadabra made his decision. His eyes glowed, as a necklace that he made a point to wear on all occasions, zoomed up from his neck into his hand. Said necklace, was a piece of thin fur, with a single rock at one end.

An Everstone.

Something that had kept Kadabra from evolving all this while. Something that had enabled him to ignore the lure of evolution while he diligently run his course to perfection.

And suddenly everything made sense.

There was a reason, why despite being so skilled, he had been brutally defeated by the feline. There was a reason why the midget believed that his own pokémon could fare better in a situation than him, despite knowing him all his life. There was a reason why Delia had sent him to Ash.

It was not to train the midget's pokémon. No, it was to ensure that Kadabra learnt the most fundamental thing he had ignored in his quest for perfection.

 _Experience. The difference between perfection and stagnancy._

Kadabra sent a mental nod towards his trainer, hoping that she would know how grateful he was for this impromptu lesson. With a single snap, the stone shattered in his hand, as Kadabra felt it.

It was coming.

And then Kadabra exploded with bright light.

* * *

Ash fell back to the ground, the shockwaves coming out from the colliding shadow-balls pushing him back. He heard the angry tones of Kadabra's voice coming into his mind, but ignored them, after all, he needed to save his pokémon.

That was when it happened.

Pure, unadulterated psychic energy coalesced all around the shadow-balls, containing them inside itself. It was awe-inspiring- a contraption of psychic energy created to contain ghostly energy, a juxtaposition if there ever was one. He turned back in awe, watching Kadabra channel his reserves into creating and maintaining the shields in effect, as Metagross zoomed in, to lift him up, and away from the colliding masses. Even Rhydon had stomped his way backwards to try avoid the collision.

And then the fire blast hit the psychic shields, as the entire thing exploded out in a mixture of light and fire.

Ash might have tried to shield his eyes, but the scene was too mind-boggling for him to do anything but stare blankly. Standing there, a little distance from the exploding energies, was Kadabra, continuously creating newer and newer shields to contain the explosion which was simultaneously shattering through the existing shields, a dynamic equilibrium maintained between the opposing forces. That was when Kadabra took out the Everstone he always kept on his person, and shattered it with a single psy-strike.

And then Kadabra exploded with bright light, as his shape condensed, altered, became larger. His moustache increased in length. His head elongated a little, as his tail entirely disappeared, giving him a more humanoid appearance than it previously was.

"Alaka… Zam!" Ash breathed.

* * *

Alakazam turned completely corporeal, his humanoid appearance now for everyone to see, as he now gave the detonated explosion his undivided attention. The flame had come into contact with the energies swirling within, and was now exploding outward.

But it didn't matter.

For Alakazam was a psychic. The master of manipulation of all that is real in the world.

Mind will, _always_ , triumph over matter.

He channelled his newly acquired reserves, bending nature to his will, bending reality to ensure his one, single command.

 _Stop._

And it did. Without fail.

"Impossible…" Butch whispered.

But Alakazam wasn't done yet. He might be a pacifist, but once threatened, he would do anything to stop, and completely annihilate the threat. And currently, the biggest threat was the angry, fire-breathing monster of a Magmortar.

Luckily, Alakazam had just the means to end the battle.

With a single flick of his spoon, Alakazam sent the now contained, compressed sphere of exploding energies towards Magmortar, hitting him face-first, before enclosing him within several hundred layers of psychic shields, all formed on top of each other, cocooning the Magmortar and the energy in the centre of it.

Then, Alakazam let the shields keeping the explosion compressed, suddenly disappear.

* * *

A moment ago, Butch felt that he had had his revenge. Then, that nasty excuse of a Kadabra just _had_ to evolve into an Alakazam, and all of his plans came to a rummaging stop. He watched as the vengeful creature not only control the violent mixture from erupting out into a large-scale explosion, but also redirect it to Magmortar before letting it go.

"Teleport, now!" Butch whispered in fear, as Magmortar exploded outwards. However, before he could have seen newer shields form to contain the explosion again, he had already teleported away to the Base.

The explosive mixture and Magmortar exploded inside the highly sealed environment, the temperatures within reaching temperatures higher than even what the spitfire pokémon could have dealt with. Besides, the sheer pressure was enough to literally liquefy the spitfire pokémon in the first place.

When Alakazam had finally let the last of the shields disappear, only a thick, gooey mess of volcanic substrata remained, which was immediately doused by a rather excited Poliwhirl, before it could cause any further damage.

Meanwhile, the Gengar and the two Haunter, not having to maintain the Shadow ball any longer, viciously attacked the Dusclops, who cried out in pain, as his innards were dug up by the powerful shadow claws employed by the three ghosts of the Gastly-line.

"Enough…" Ash cried out, and before the ghosts could even understand what happened, he threw out an ultraball towards the Dusclops, capturing it, the ultraball displaying a successful capture with a single 'ding'.

"That was… end…." Perhaps Ash wanted to speak something out. They would never know, because right at that moment, his eyes rolled up upwards, as blood coughed out of his mouth, making the fourteen-year-old fall down upon the ground, unconscious.

The curse had finally made its assault.

* * *

 **Sometime later.**

….

 _ **Trainer Ash?**_

 _Meta…. Gross?_

Ash slowly opened his eyes, glancing at the thick canopy above, no more distorted with ghostly energies like he had known it ever since he had stepped inside the region, By the looks of it, it looked like early morning, with thin beams of sunlight trickling through the thick canopy. He smelled smoke, wondering if the flames all around had been doused by Poliwhirl and Crawdaunt. That brought around the next point.

 _Did we win?_

 _ **We did, trainer Ash.**_

Ash pushed himself up, revelling for a moment in the return of his physical strength. His muscles no longer pained with the slightest movement. In fact, even his legs, which had somewhat… fragile, now felt strong enough to support him once again.

 _Strange._

He looked around. Standing beside him, was Alakazam… _Kadabra evolved… to save me…_ he realized. He and Kadabra had always had a love/hate relationship over the years, but there was no doubt in his mind that Kadabra would stand with him when it mattered.

 _And now he is an Alakazam. Wonder if that's what Mom wanted._

There was Absol, lying on the forest floor, licking her wounds. There was a singe gash on her abdomen, one that was slowly being healed by her innate dark energies, excreting out the ghost-substrata and reorganizing tissue. Rhydon seemed a little restless, the Lairon near him ever more so. A part of his mind reminded him to take a more active interest in the steel-type, who had been somewhat… ignored since his acquisition. Of course, Ash himself had been in a coma, so that was a good reason for it.

He couldn't see Crawdaunt or Poliwhirl around, though Shelgon and Charmander were on his other side, looking at him with concern in their eyes. He somehow managed to caress Shelgon's shell with his left hand, before proceeding to do the same with Charmander. The fire lizard licked his palm with his tongue, as Ash chuckled at his actions. Shelgon just made his own declaration of happiness.

A loud screech attracted his attention, as he turned further left. There stood Pidgeot, tall and proud, looking at him with concern, as Metagross floated beside him. Gyarados… he remembered, was still inside his pokeball. He would need to return to Mirage Island to get her, and everyone on the team, including himself, treated and checked for injuries.

 _ **You were abysmal, midget.**_ Kadabra, now Alakazam's voice boomed into his mind. Ash curiously observed the other silver spoon on Alakazam's other hand. Where he had gotten enough _pure silver_ to fashion himself a spoon was anybody's guess.

Ash let out a little cough, before he sat up, only to be faced by an odd sight. Standing right in front of him, was Gengar. Behind him, the two Haunter floated, their eyes observing his every single detail.

"I guess… we won, eh?" Ash asked bleakly.

Gengar grunted in affirmative.

He turned towards Alakazam. "What happened?"

Alakazam snorted. _**The fire-breathing monster has been permanently dealt with. The owner teleported away, with his Abra. The otherworldly population is… stolen.**_

"So… we lost." Ash sighed. "Team Rocket got what they came for, and escaped."

 _ **The avian made sure that they didn't. Only the owner escaped with his Abra. No other soul got free.**_

"Right… and, I guess… you removed the curse off me?" Ash directed his question at the shadow pokémon.

Gengar nodded her head, the devilish grin reappearing on her face. Ash remembered reading somewhere that Gengar's grin was _not even remotely related_ to her emotions about anyone, even towards fellow ghosts.

 _ **The otherworldly one removed the curse, and intends to honour the clause that dictated her battle against the feline.**_ Alakazam spoke in his mind.

 _You mean…_

 _ **She is willing to be subservient to you, as your pokémon, though not without her own conditions.**_

Gengar made another couple of statements in her own tongue. Behind her, the two Haunter voiced their agreement.

Ash automatically turned to Metagross for translation.

 _ **The otherworldly one says that the population of the forest was stolen from them, but by the deaths that happened here, more Phantump will soon, be born.**_

Ash wondered if there was some reason why _only Phantump_ were born in the forest, and none else. Filing that away for later, he nodded his head.

 _ **She also says that her… companions will be looking after the new-borns from now on, like she has looked after everyone for all these years.**_ Metagross paused for a moment. _**However, she expects you to fulfil two of her demands.**_

Ash looked squarely upon the Gengar. "If this is about the Trevenant, I will release it, like I said in the very beginning."

Absol snarled in disagreement from her position.

Contradictory to his expectations, Gengar shook her head.

 _ **The otherworldly one has no qualms over your ownership of the otherworldly tree, since she finds herself trusting you, a rather queer thing for them, I must say. Her demands are… something else.**_

 _Which is?_

 _ **The first is the demise of the otherworldly one in your pokeball.**_

"Not an option." Ash stood up. "I'm not going to allow that."

Gengar vehemently protested.

 _ **She says that she, and the tree are powerful enough to battle for you, and that the otherworldly one under your protection is an enemy, and must be obliterated.**_

"It's not." Ash retorted. "That… Dusclops is not an enemy. Team Rocket steals pokémon… and does something to them to make them follow orders without question." He paused, "they might do the same to the Phantump and the Trevenant they captured."

Gengar's eyes glowed an angry red at that.

Ash didn't allow that to deter him. "This is not the first time I've fought Team Rocket. They have caused a lot of deaths to humans and pokémon, over and over. I almost got killed because of that a week ago." He paused, not wanting to go on a personal diatribe. "Anyway, what's the second thing?"

 _ **The second thing is that you will aide her in her desire to get the Phantump back.**_

Ash grinned. "Now that I can agree with, completely."

Gengar grinned, as she picked up a pokeball - Trevenant's pokeball, Ash realized—and handed it over to Ash, who took it gratefully, before plucking out an empty fastball and touching her head with it. The fastball opened with a sound, sucking the ghost in.

 _Guess I caught a Gengar._

Alakazam made an odd, throaty sound.

 _And a Dusclops._ Ash corrected.

Metagross repeated the odd, throaty sound this time, whispering something along the lines of … _tree._

"Oh come on, that was in the past."

The steel-type hummed with amusement.

"So guys…." Ash drawled, looking around. "Anybody seen a Hoothoot around?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile back at Mirage Island.**

"I'm seriously beginning to gain the impression that men, adult or not, are completely irresponsible." Cynthia snapped. "Who in the right mind would send someone like Ash into an illusionary forest filled with ghosts of all kinds?"

Steven made an incomprehensible sound with his throat, something that went completely unnoticed by the irritable Sinnoh girl.

"Even more, you even went ahead to _encourage_ him to do it? I'm beginning to wonder how you even managed to become Champion, forget holding that position for all that time."

Steven arched an eyebrow."Now that's below the belt, _Miss Sinnoh_."

"Don't you _Miss Sinnoh_ me," she snapped, her somewhat calm tone in no way reducing her irritation. "I clearly remember telling you that I'd personally come and visit Ash, and yet, I see him _gone_ , and oh, not just that, he's gone, with his fragile health, to a _ghost-hunting trip."_

Steven opened his mouth but then closed it, deciding it was better to let Cynthia vent out all her frustration.

"And to that, you _encouraged_ him. _Encouraged_ him? You should have told him to just stay here and get a clean bill first. Didn't you tell him that I'd come to visit him?"

"I did." Steven raised his hands in surrender.

"And?" Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "You want to tell me that Ash decided to simply leave for the forest, without even _bothering_ to wait for a day or two?"

 _Damn._

"Actually," Nurse Joy, who had been enjoying the barter from her vantage point, decided to put her two cents in. "Mr. Ketchum did wait for two days before leaving, Miss Shirona."

"Oh." Cynthia stopped her tirade, glancing back at the nurse. "Then?"

"He thought that since the two days were over, you had probably gotten too busy, and he left."

 _Crap._ Steven cursed.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes. "And why would he arrive at that conclusion?"

The nurse shrugged, leaving Steven to the guillotine, all by himself.

"Steven?"

"I…. might have told him that you would… arrive in a day or two at most."

Cynthia opened her mouth, and then closed it. "So he waited two days, and left on the third, and since then… over the _last three days_ , he's… what? Lost inside the forest?"

Steven opened his mouth, and then closed it. "Well, when you put it like that, I know it does sound fishy, but it is the forest of illusions. I remember it took me days to walk out of that thing."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." The blonde-haired girl snapped, before she turned towards Nurse Joy, speaking to her in a meaningful tone. "Could you please check if my pokémon are done with treatment?"

The nurse arched an eyebrow. _Oh._ "Sure." Saying so, she left the Champions alone, free to talk about whatever they wanted to, in private.

Cynthia turned back to face the brown-haired man. "I must admit too, Steven… What _exactly_ are you doing here again?"

Steven looked a little surprised. "If you remember, this _is_ my homeland."

"Yeah, and you are the Deputy Champion of two lands, and this isn't one of them." Cynthia challenged. "Seriously Steven, I've been sprinting between Hoenn and Sinnoh over the last week, and _I do have_ an idea about how much this event has affected the Indigo League." She paused for a moment. "With Lance's defeat, you should be anywhere _but here,_ attending to the needs of a… a single _no-name_ trainer."

 _Crap._ Steven thought. He had given Lance's order quite a bit of thought, and had finally decided on an approach. Considering that dealing with Ash, meant dealing with _Cynthia_ as well, and considering how _frequently_ Ash ran into… _elite-level situations,_ a direct one seemed like the best in these matters.

"Makes you wonder, does it not?" He replied back.

Cynthia scrunched up her face. "Whatever do you mean?"

Steven smirked. "It's simple, isn't it? Both of us are much more experienced, much more better trainers and have scores of powerful pokémon that can beat his team any day. Both of us have become Champions of our own regions, and have ruled over the throne, while he still has to even qualify for a league… and yet," he paused, looking away towards the cliff on the other end, "—yet, I have yet to get the chance to even see a Legendary… let alone interact with one."

"Me too." Cynthia agreed, her voice a little low. It was no surprise that she was deeply interested in the research going on over the myths of the Lords of Space and Time, Palkia and Dialga. Cynthia knew _almost_ every single archaeologist and researcher related to the topic, and always kept up with the ongoing developments, but she had yet to see anything for herself save colonies of Unown now and then.

"And yet, Ash, seems to come across them with alarming frequency."

Cynthia looked up, squarely at Steven's face. "Are you saying that you are jealous of him?"

The former Champion shook his head. "Just that the League is considering him as someone important and worth noticing."

 _That,_ cleared things up a little for the Sinnoh girl, who looked down at the ground. "So Lance is interested in Ash? But for what?"

There was no answer.

Cynthia looked back at the man's face. "Steven?"

But Steven was too engrossed, staring at the entity racing towards them from a distance, seated upon a glorious Pidgeot.

Pidgeot swooped down towards the ground, flapping her humongous wings to create enough wind resistance to slow down her momentum, as she landed onto the ground, allowing Ash to step down from her back to the ground. Once down, she beat her wings fiercely, pushing herself upwards for another flight in the air, leaving Ash on the ground with the two Champions.

"She's something, isn't she?" Steven asked, staring at the avian, a little bit of awe in his voice. "A permanent mega-evolution. I still am yet to believe if what I am seeing is the truth."

Ash chuckled. "Pidgeot certainly is happy. She was a real aid back in the forest." With those words, he turned towards the other person who was just staring at him with an inscrutable expression on her face. "Um… is something wrong with my face, Shiro- Cynthia?"

"Shirona is fine." The girl returned, the expression still sedentary on her features. "How was it like, being in the forest for all this time?"

Ash sighed. "Feels like a lifetime ago, even though it's been only a single night."

The two Champions simply stared at him, perplexed at his answer.

"What?" Ash defended, feeling awfully self-conscious, "I should let you know that I'd have been faster, if not for the curse."

"Ash?" Steven asked, a little slowly. "What was the date when you… entered the forest?"

"Why would you ask me that?"

"Humour me."

"May 13." Ash replied, without hesitation. "Sometime… around the evening, but that was yesterday and-"

"And…" Steven interrupted him, still maintaining his tone, "When did you leave the forest?"

Ash squinted his eyes. "Around… half an hour ago? Why are you behaving so oddly?" He took a step back out of caution.

"Ash," It was Cynthia. "Today's May 17. That was four days ago."

Ash, almost subconsciously, took a step backward. "Four… days ago? But I only entered it yesterday evening, and spent majority of the time walking until… I don't know, for hours perhaps? And then, with all that battles and everything, it took me a while. Else I'd have gotten out faster."

"Today is indeed May 17, Ash." Steven confirmed. "You spent at least three days inside the forest."

"But…." Ash's face looked shocked, "why didn't it feel like it?" His hands went to his waist automatically, as he released Metagross, who floated up in the air instantly. "Metagross, how long did we spend in the forest?"

The steel behemoth hummed for quite some time… _**I really… couldn't say.**_

"Guess even psychics need watches to keep track of time." The teen muttered.

 _ **That certainly is not the case, trainer Ash. The concept of Time within the forest is… convoluted. Without a more detailed grasp of the situation… I really… couldn't say.**_

Ash wasn't sure what to think anymore, but his wide-eyed expression seemed to convey the message pretty well.

"Ash? What is it? Did Metagross tell you what happened?" Cynthia asked, concerned.

Ash gulped. "He says… that the concept of Time inside the forest is… convoluted."

 _That,_ grabbed Steven's attention. "Hold on, are you…" he turned towards Metagross, "saying that the forest has its own… independent time stream of some sort?"

Metagross hummed gently.

Steven grabbed the hairs on his head. "This is blowing my mind."

Cynthia didn't say anything, but her shocked expression conveyed her mind well enough.

"Well…" Ash really didn't know what to say. He turned towards Cynthia. "So… when did you arrive?"

"Two days ago." The Sinnoh Champion glared at him with a stony expression. "Waiting for Mr. Ghost Hunter to return from his expedition."

"Hey, it's not my fault that _time_ is convoluted in that place." Ash retorted.

"All right lovebirds, get a room." Steven deadpanned.

Ash and Cynthia both flushed, before glaring at Steven, who just smirked back shamelessly. "But either way, Ash, this is a good development. I was right, you do seem to get involved in Elite-level matters way too much for your own good."

Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Blame my luck."

"I do." Steven deadpanned.

"So… what are you doing back here?" Ash asked generally.

"Looking out for a young trainer?" Steven offered.

Cynthia just scoffed. "He's being too evasive with that. Either way, did you manage to catch any pokémon?"

Metagross hummed with amusement, as did Ash. "Yep."

"So… show it to me,"

"Nope." He denied, " _They_ are too tired and injured right now. I need to… get them treated at first, as well as my pokémon."

"Which one?"

"All of them." Ash replied without much thought.

"Oh." Cynthia answered, before his words registered. "Wait, _them? W_ hy _all_ of them?"

But Ash Ketchum had already sprinted past her.

* * *

 **A while later.**

"I don't _believe_ it. I don't fucking believe it." Steven yelled out, much to Ash and Cynthia cringing his loud tones.

"What I cannot understand is why Team Rocket would be concerned with Phantump of all pokémon? I mean, I'm not differentiating, but, wouldn't something like Dusclops or the Gastly-line be more effective?" Cynthia asked.

"Not quite." Steven negated. "Might I remind you about the pokémon they used back at the Anne?"

Cynthia looked wide-eyed. "Oh."

"Yes, oh." The former Champion reiterated. "The Rockets seem to prefer pokémon which are present in large numbers. Ratticate, the Nidoran-lines, Beedril, Weezing, serpent-types, and the Zubat-line. What does that tell you?"

"Poison types." Ash spoke up. "But I don't understand. Poison types aren't quite…" he paused midway at the look that Steven gave him, "you know what I mean—they have a bunch of weaknesses."

"Tut!" Steven shook his head in disappointment. "You are looking at the wrong perspective, Ash. Tell me, how many types are completely immune to poison attacks?"

The answer was ready on his lips. "Only Steel."

"Steel." Steven reiterated. "And how many trainers out there have steel-types?"

The question was rhetorical. Finding Steel-types was rather… difficult in Kanto. In fact, without the common Magnemite, it was almost unfathomable to spot a steel-type in Kanto, apart from very particular locations, like the Beldum colony for one. Fortunately or not, the locations weren't a matter of public knowledge.

"Every other type, more or less, will get affected should the poison reach into their body tissues. Under right conditions, even the strongest Dragonite can fall to poison types. There is immense strength in large numbers, Ash. Do not forget that. That is one of the reasons why young trainers are advised to catch pokémon, and lots of them. The more diversity you have, the better off you are as a trainer."

Ash nodded.

"Besides, poison types are useful against the trainers." Cynthia pointed out. "If the trainers are incapacitated first-hand before they can even summon their pokémon, the problem is solved. Even a pseudo-legendary needs to come out of its pokeball to fight."

Ash had to agree. She had a point there.

"Poison types. In immense numbers. That is exactly how team Rockets seems to operate." Steven declared. "Though I am surprised how they managed to land so many dark-types, or rather... Umbreon. Eevee aren't exactly common Catterpie."

Ash shrugged. He had faced Umbreon back then at the power plant. That was where Harrison had caught his Umbreon. Speaking of which…

"Uh, Steven… I was wondering if you had any news on… Harrison. You told me you'd look into it?"

Steven frowned. "I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, Ash. There has been no news about Harrison after that. Not in Little Root Town, or in Hoenn in general. I have sent up a missing notice in all three regions. Hopefully we'll get someone who can inform us about…." He didn't finish the line.

Ash nodded. It was troubling. Harrison had left on his Blastoise, and his pokémon were powerful in their own way. Then what the hell happened to him?

 _Where are you…? Harrison?_

"Don't worry," Cynthia touched his arm to comfort him. "We'll find him."

Ash decided that he liked the gesture, as he tilted his head in return.

"What happened after that?" Steven asked, before clarifying further, "After the Rockets were gone?"

"The Rockets…" Ash paused, "they didn't well… leave. Only the main guy-"

"Executive." Steven suggested.

"Executive, he escaped with the Abra." Ash explained. "The Phantump… they were transported as soon as they got captured."

Steven arched an eyebrow. "An instant transport system configured within the pokeball. I should… like to meet whoever conceived of such a technology."

"But the PC console does the same thing." Ash countered.

"It does not." The former Champion corrected him. "It simply transfers the pokémon, while in the condensed poke-energy state, from one machine to another. To be able to incorporate it within the pokeball itself… I should very much like some samples if I manage to get my hands on one."

"What about the one that I had on me?" Ash asked.

"Irrelevant. Just an unregistered pokeball. I believe they use these… new pokeballs to capture pokémon first-hand, and then sort them out to the Grunts."

"That makes sense." The Sinnoh Champion answered. "Anyway. Please continue."

Ash described to them how he had unleashed his complete team against the Rockets—how Metagross and Rhydon had fought the Magmortar, while his Lairon had engaged the Houndoom with the two Haunter to his aid. He explained how Pidgeot had summoned a vast twister of ghostly energy, and after the flames that Magmortar threw into it, how she had effectively used it to complete burn each and every grunt and their pokémon.

Cynthia winced. "I should never like to be on the wrong side of your Pidgeot, Ash. That kind of move would give a lot of trouble to my Garchomp, if he fell into it."

Ash raised an eyebrow.

"If he fell into it." Cynthia repeated.

That was more believable to him, since to his mind, a Champion's pokémon were literally unbeatable, at least by other _normal_ pokémon.

Steven's expression was a lot more… undecipherable.

"Look," Ash tried, "I know that thing caused the deaths of all those Umbreon as well. If I had been in a better condition to command her, then maybe-"

"I'm not blaming you for the deaths of those Umbreon, Ash." Steven interrupted him. "I'm only considering the repercussions of the event. A single trainer fought off Team Rocket's attack, and killed all the agents, causing an Executive to flee. I am merely worried about what they might do to you."

Ash looked slightly uncomfortable. "Do you think…?"

"That they might attack you later on? Perhaps. But then again, your record stands to prove that the chance of you falling into one of their ongoing programs are much higher."

Cynthia snorted at that.

"Hey!" Ash yelled indignantly, before a nasty thought hit him. "Do you think they might go after my… mom?"

Steven scowled. "A very rare chance, to be honest. Your mother is Samuel Oak's assistant, right?"

Ash nodded.

"There it goes. Legendary or not, I don't think Team Rocket would like t0 involve Samuel Oak into the equation. Not right now anyway."

Perplexed, the trainer from Pallet questioned back. "You speak of Professor Oak like he is just as dangerous as Lance."

Steven smirked. "He's not as dangerous as Lance, Ash. He's… much more. Besides, if Samuel Oak comes into the equation, he brings in a lot of deep shit with him, people the Rockets wouldn't _really_ want to deal with." He very wisely kept himself from talking about _Red_ coming into the equation.

"Oh." Ash muttered, completely humbled once again at just how little he knew about the apparently benign old man he had known all his life.

"What happened to the ghosts after all that?" Cynthia asked.

Ash continued with his story, explaining how Kadabra had evolved into Alakazam to save him and everyone else. Cynthia and Steven both looked rather content with the news that the Magmortar was now dealt with. That led to the explanation of what happened after that.

"So… you mean to say that the deaths in the forest… I mean, the souls will now be reborn as Phantump?" Steven questioned.

"That's what Gengar told me anyway." Ash explained. "She isn't much of a talker about all that."

"I am still having trouble believing that you caught yourself a Gengar. They are almost at the apex of the Ghost-types. Very few ghosts can match the abilities of a Gengar." Cynthia expressed. "And I am yet to see what the Trevenant can do."

Ash shuddered. The ability to control a forest at its will wasn't something Ash wanted to face on a good day. Absol might have defeated Gengar, but defeating the Trevenant had taken a lot from all of them together. He looked up at Steven… "So… what are you doing here?"

Steven sighed. "I mentioned Lance about your little tete-e-tete with Mewtwo."

"What?" Cynthia screeched, snapping her head towards Steven, and instantly back to Ash. "When were you going to mention that to me?"

"Uh…" Ash looked a tad embarrassed. "I forgot?"

"Really?" Ash shuddered at the cold tone, as Cynthia turned to the other man. "And what about you?"

"I might have forgotten to tell you about it, with the entire forest thing going on."

Cynthia muttered something incomprehensible under her breath, before addressing Ash directly. "I hope, for your own sake, that you do not have plans of leaving for another adventure already, Ash Ketchum."

Ash swallowed. "Not at the time, no."

"I thought you were going to leave for Pallet directly from the Forests, as you mentioned." Steven spoke up, before finding himself the object of the girl's glare, "—and I will shut up now."

"You and I have a lot to discuss," she returned, "—alone," emphasizing on the last word specifically.

Ash gulped. "Sure thing."

Cynthia turned towards the other man. "Now if you would please stop dancing around the point?"

Steven let out a long.-suffering sigh. "As I stated, Lance knows about… Mewtwo's interest in you, and has… sufficient reason to believe that it was you who summoned the Dragonite."

Ash swallowed, not sure if he was going to like it.

"Considering that Mewtwo made a… mockery of Lance's team, he's… quite paranoid, as of now."

Ash took a step back, panicking. "You are not going to arrest me or anything, are you?"

"Relax." Steven gestured, "However, Lance does wish to keep you within the League's own… scrutiny."

"He means to say that Lance wants you tied, where he can see and observe you at a distance." Cynthia pronounced.

Steven shot her a dirty look. "That's not what I meant." He turned around. "Have you checked your trainer profile? I remember telling you to do it?"

Ash looked a tad embarrassment. "I… uhm... might have forgotten, with the entire thing going on."

Steven arched an eyebrow, which was apparently enough for Ash to skip talk and activate his Pokedex to look at his trainer profile. What he saw, nearly choked him to death.

"Is it something to worry about?" Cynthia asked, concerned.

"Honorary associate…" Ash breathed, unsure of what he was seeing.

"Of the Indigo League." Steven finished for him. "Taking into account your contributions at St. Anne, both before and during the entire cataclysmic event, I believe it is well deserved."

"But I never-"

"We know." Steven almost smirked. "Besides, you just nearly defeated a Team Rocket Executive all by yourself. I think credit is due."

"I can agree with that." Cynthia smirked, seeing Ash, whose reaction resembled the Magikarp he had caught back then on the cruise.

"You will also find a monetary advancement of ten thousand pokedollars granted to your trainer profile as a reward for your services."

Ash was beyond caring now. "What do I have to do in return?"

Steven smirked. "Nothing much as of now. You can continue on your own path as a League aspirant. Being an honorary associate doesn't make you an Ace, or even put you in any position of authority. It is simply a proof that you are a trainer _personally known_ to the League, and thus, should allow you some form of leeway if you encounter the Police or say… the Ranger Squad." He paused. "Also, you might be called in if the League demands your services at any point of time in the future. Of course, the League will obviously reimburse you for your aid."

Ash simply gaped. "But… but I am just a trainer, without any experience. Why would anyone even-?"

Cynthia sent him a glare, one that made him wisely shut up.

"Look kid, you might be a newbie in terms of time, but your actions and your team speak otherwise. If I'm not wrong, you already have at least two pseudo-legendaries on your team, one of which is fully evolved. You also happen to have a permanently mega-evolved pokémon, the first and only one of its kind in the world. Also, should I mention that you happen to have a fairly powerful Absol able enough to take on and win on a Gengar?"

Ash just looked down on the ground, which seemed highly fascinating at the moment.

"I'm not praising you, Ash." Steven replied in a no-nonsense tone. "If there is something about you that makes the legendaries and this… Mewtwo take notice of you, then that makes you worth the League's notice as well. Shit happens. Get over it and move on."

"That was some morale-boosting speech there, Steven." Cynthia deadpanned.

Steven shrugged, but he went on. "So that brings me to my last two questions. What are you going to do with the Dusclops and what are your next plans?"

Ash considered his words. "Well, Harrison had captured an Umbreon for himself back at Commerce City from the Rockets. I was wondering if I could have Dusclops as my own pokémon."

"In full knowledge of the fact that the pokémon might have been exposed to all kinds of… unknown treatment on its person? Knowing that it might be inclined to kill should it get an opportunity?"

Ash paused at that, before slowly nodding his head.

"I should have guessed." Steven sighed. "Very well. As it is, you have captured the Dusclops in your own registered ball, so there is no question about ownership issues either way. The second thing I need to know… are you, going to return back to Kanto as soon as your pokémon are treated?"

Cynthia simply stared at Ash with a stony expression, as if daring him to speak out something unpleasant.

"I… I think I'm going to stay here for a while." Ash answered, after a moment of thought. "Maybe get to one of the other islands in the archipelago, and spend a week training, after… you know, our talks," he nodded his head towards the Sinnoh Champion, "are done."

"Yes, of course." Steven smirked. "Talks and training… mighty important the two of them."

Cynthia just glared.

"In case you wish to know, you can fly off to Sootopolis city from here. Should take you an hour's flight at ordinary speeds. You can get yourself a ticket for the steamship that travels from there to the Seafoam Islands. The rest of the journey you can simply fly home."

"I was thinking… to fly the entire way."

Steven raised an eyebrow. "That's over a day of flight. Mega-evolved or not, pokémon require rest. You should consider alternate routes."

"I will… think of something."

"Please do."

* * *

 **In an underground location beneath Viridian Gym.**

"And that is what happened." Butch stated, feeling nigh uncomfortable, both at the fact that he was having to confess his greatest failure during his career as an Executive, and the fact that he was doing so in front of a _pokémon,_ and one that had the power to face off any Legendary and survive. A pokémon whom, his Boss called _his partner._

 _ **So… you accomplished the mission but lost us too much in the process.**_

Butch took a step back. He knew it extremely well that getting on this… Mewtwo's bad side, would possibly be the last mistake he would ever make. Besides, any attempt to lie would instantly be caught by _him,_ and thus, the raw, unadulterated truth was the answer.

The psychic levitated close up to him. _**This… trainer. Does he have a name?**_

"I… I don't know, but I was wondering if you could pluck the name out from my mind… and then check it on the League database. We could get his entire information from there."

 _ **Indeed…**_ Mewtwo dove into his mind, viewing the memory for himself, irrespective of the man's screams at his rather blunt approach. It didn't take him a second to identify who the trainer was. He had already checked in the details the first time he had come across him back at the power plant. With the League's database all for him to skim through, it had been child's play.

 _How… interesting. An Alakazam. The boy keeps proving me right._

 _ **I see… very well. Report to my partner. He will need to know the details. It would not do to hide anything from him.**_

"Of- Of course." Butch stammered, panting as he did, before doing his best to walk out of the chamber slowly, despite his impulse to run as fast as he could.

Mewtwo watched him leave. Butch was right. With the boy's face plucked out from Butch's memories, it would be a simple thing for _anyone_ to look the kid up on the central database.

 _The things one needs to do to gain amusement._ He thought to himself.

* * *

 **Sometime later, in a different office.**

The man in the shadows petted his Persian softly, making the cat purr at him lovingly, as he stared at the Executive in front of him, the other man's head down in shame.

"So… the infamous Executive Butch was defeated by a bunch of ghosts…"

Butch looked up, terrified... "Please… Please Boss, believe me. One second I was there, my entire team was there, attacking the ghosts from all directions, and the other moment, everything just…" Butch's face was blank. "And then, they blew off Magmortar, and killed the Dusclops you gave me."

"And yet, that didn't stop the men from capturing the Phantump population. Your story is… full of holes, I'm afraid, Butch."

"Boss… I'm speaking the damn truth. Believe me. Get a psychic, but whatever, just believe me. I have no reason to lie."

The Boss frowned. "As unfortunate as it is, you are speaking the truth. However, losing an entire fleet of our men has brought us shame, and it is you who are responsible for it."

"Boss…." Butch pleaded.

"Thus, it is my verdict that you are suspended from your Executive status, effective immediately. All your captures, all your prisoners, all your pokémon, will be transferred to Petrel, who is going to be the one you will answer from now on."

Butch paled. "Pet—trel? Why?"

The man in the shadows smirked. "You will find out soon enough. Contact Petrel immediately. He will tell you where to go."

Butch's knuckles were white. "Yes… yes, boss."

"Leave."

His head bowed, the man who was once an Executive, turned away to get out of the room.

"Wait."

He stopped.

"Exactly _how_ many ghosts were there?" The man in the shadows sat up, a little straighter.

"Endless…. Endless. Terrifyingly endless." Butch kept on stammering, as he left the room.

* * *

 **AN: Right, so the Mirage Island Arc comes to an end. (Well, almost!). I'd like to take this moment to answer a couple of questions put forth in the review section.**

 **I must admit that I find it incredibly funny to even consider that 'Lairon' has been neglected. From what we know, Lairon is a tackle-happy character, and not someone you let loose in a room where the bloody carpet is costlier than yourself. Then, Ash was unconscious for three days, and when he got back on, he trained his team for a day. I know I didn't go over the details of the training, but considering what I have in mind for the story, it would simply mean repeating of what will soon be happening in the tale anyway. For more details, keep tuned to the updates. :D**

 **Second, about the Poliwhirl issue. Let's rewind a little. Ash captured Poliwag in Pallet forest. Trained in Cerulean. Poliwag fought, evolved to Poliwhirl. Next, Vermillion city and Commerce City. First Raichu and next Magnemite. Electric types. From what PokemonDb states, water types aren't the best way to combat electric types. Hence, no mention. Then, Poliwhirl fought several times in the St. Anne arc. Then, we arrive at Mirage Island, and the above happened.**

 **Bottom line. The fact that one almost 'forgot' that Ash caught Poliwag (not Poliwhirl) is in my opinion, a disadvantage of reading too many engrossing stories at a time and getting confused. I know, been there, done that. :D**

 **Third, about the 'lots' of pokémon and concept of a 'team'. From canon records, Ash caught 41 pokémon before the Indigo League happened (30 of them were Tauros. Not my mistake). Out of the other eleven, he left around half of them midway (some even left him for other activities). Then, he finds himself a limited team of 5 or 6, and has to hope that none of his pokémon are brutally wounded, or else he would have a pokémon lacking in the next battle. Believe me, the episodes (I watched them again recently for research purposes, made me feel like throwing the PC out of the window).**

 **That, is NOT going to happen here. As for training and building a team, the entire group is THE TEAM. You will need to simply wait and see it unfold out.**

 **I guess that answered all of it. I'm so glad that I'm able to create a story enough to captivate my readers. As always, I read all the reviews with great pleasure. Motivates me to write more and write better.**

 **If you liked the chapter, please put in a review. Constructive suggestions are highly appreciated. Thank you.**


	18. Talks and Training

Ash found himself standing on the cliff, the sea breeze kissing his face as he stared at the behemoth in front of him. Behind him, divided into two teams, stood his team. On the right, stood Metagross levitated above the ground, with Shelgon, Charmander and Poliwrath standing on the ground below him. A little further right, stood Pidgeot, her mane billowing in the wind as she stood there with all her majestic appearance, exuding power. A little further behind, stood Rhydon, his bulky form visible behind Metagross's appendages.

His original team of six.

On the left, Lairon grunted impatiently, trying to dig a hole into the ground with his facial armour, and beside him, stood Absol, her white fur shining as she stood, her very stance reflecting grace and skill. A little behind, Crawdaunt stood, his pincers up and ready for battle. Behind them, coiled around itself like a snake, stood Gyarados, his maw open as he stared in front, his draconic origins screaming to it to begin a rampage immediately. A little above the ground, Gengar floated, her lethal grin shining on her face ominously. A little further to the left, Alakazam stood on the ground, his silver spoons on either hand, waiting for the opponent to make the first move. While a little surprising, it wasn't overtly unexpected of Alakazam to take part in this event, considering his new realization and craving for battle experience.

His new team of six.

Trevenant was still at the Pokémon center, as was Dusclops. It seemed like the group attack on the elder-tree pokémon had made a greater impact than what Ash had supposed. Dusclops wasn't a surprise though, considering the amount of injuries it had sustained from the battle. The exotic dark-type… Ash had decided that he would release it later on.

"So…" Steven pronounced, sitting cross-legged on top of his Metagross, who floated gently above the ground. "This… is your team."

Ash nodded his head, feeling slightly confident about his chances of winning. After all, it wasn't like his team was weak or anything.

They were all standing on the cliff, the very place that Ash used for his own training purposes for two days before leaving for the Forest. It was also the place where he had encountered Mewtwo after waking up from his comatose state.

"Let me remind you of our deal, Ash." Steven replied, his tone composed, "You have the option to choose one of my pokémon, and then your team shall battle against it. Should you manage to win, I will allow you, and a single pokémon, to train with me and the chosen pokémon."

Ash nodded. He had given it a lot of thought the previous night. After hearing both Alakazam's and Metagross's own verdict about his skill level, he had come to this conclusion, and asked Steven for a favour out of the blue. Of course, he hadn't expected the former Champion to simply agree to it without any condition.

 _Now I simply have to win._

"I have decided." Ash returned. "I wish to fight against your Metagross. If my team wins, then Metagross and I will train with you and yours."

Steven arched an eyebrow. "You wish to battle against my strongest?" He chuckled. "Well, at least you don't lack in ambition."

Ash was vaguely aware of the fact that Cynthia was seated at a distance away beneath one of the trees, observing the ongoing interaction with great interest.

"Very well. You may choose any six of your pokémon to battle my Metagross. More than that is an insult to yourself as well as your pokémon. You may attack Metagross one after another, in any order whatsoever. If you succeed in winning, or at least, seriously maiming my Metagross, then I will accept your request."

Ash bobbed his head. This was his chance. His chance to help Metagross, just like he had done for Ash on several occasions. "I choose…"

 _ **Midget, I wish to battle against this… superior psychic.**_

Ash spun around towards Alakazam. "Did you just….?"

 _ **Talent always recognizes genius, midget. Let me battle.**_

Ash paused for a moment, digesting the entire thing. He cleared his throat. "I choose Absol, Gengar, Alakazam, Gyarados, Pidgeot, and Metagross, exactly in that order."

"All the heavy hitters with the advantage eh?" Steven chuckled. "I'm not sure how the underdogs of the team would feel about that."

"This is a one-in-a-million opportunity for Metagross. My team understands why I made the decision." Ash remarked, a little amount of hesitation leaking out of his voice. "Or at least, I think they will."

He thought about it once again. Absol would have the type-advantage, as would Gengar, both of them were already powerful in their own regard. Alakazam is a powerful psychic, so if he managed to hold that Metagross back, then perhaps Metagross with his bulk and Pidgeot with her speed would be able to gain an edge over it."

The former Champion smirked. "Very well." He relaxed up, before jumping off to the ground, allowing his steel behemoth to levitate towards the centre of the cliff, the makeshift battlefield for this impromptu battle.

Meanwhile, Ash sat down on his knees. "Guys, I know I'm being unfair in choosing some and ignoring the others. But this is a great opportunity for Metagross, who is a member of our family. Will you do it for me? For Metagross?"

A cacophony of voices described everyone's views on the matter, though Ash didn't miss the somewhat disappointed grunt from Charmander amongst them.

"Something wrong, Charmander?" Ash asked, touching the fire-lizard in the head.

Charmander shook his head and simply stepped back.

Ash frowned. While Charmander had come a long way from his initial frail state back at Route 24, he was hardly in a position fit for battling against stronger opponents. For one, his physical proportions were smaller than the average ones of his kind, which along with his frail health, had made a significant impact on Charmander's mindset. He would need to be careful or else the little fire-lizard might lose his confidence for good.

 _Maybe if I allow him to battle….?_

He rejected the notion. All things considered, choosing Charmander in the team might have a worse effect than not choosing him. For one, he would literally be… (He didn't want to accept it but nevertheless) useless, considering this was a Champion-level pokémon they were up against. For all he knew, it was not beyond comprehension that the Metagross might just _ignore_ Charmander's attacks, further hurting his already-shaken confidence. Also, choosing Charmander and not the others like Poliwhirl or Shelgon would send a negative vibe throughout the group. Rhydon… he would understand, since this was mostly an aerial battle with long-ranged attacks, and not one in which Rhydon's moves could make a difference.

 _On second thought, I should get back to challenging trainers. It will be a good way to make the junior team stronger and confident._

"Don't worry, buddy." Ash whispered, "Soon you are going to be the most powerful, ever."

Charmander grunted half-heartedly in reply.

"All right, guys." Ash whispered, looking at the ones he had chosen. "I know you do not have any experience fighting alongside and for each other, but we have to make a stand, for one of our own, our family. Can you please do that? For me? For the family?"

The cacophony of voices answered his question with agreement, as Ash turned towards the opponent they all had to defeat. It was not the first time he had faced an adult Metagross. However while Derrick's Metagross reeked of wisdom, unrestrained power and a clairvoyance the likes of which Ash had never felt before. Steven's on the other hand, felt methodical, ruthless, precise, someone who wouldn't waste a drop of power unless it was used for a perfect strike.

This was a Metagross that battled the Elite Four on regular basis. This was a Metagross that maintain Steven Stone's position as Hoenn Champion for over six years.

"Very well then. Let's begin testing out how strong out opponent is." Ash paused. "Absol, would you like to do the honours?"

Said pokémon let out a grunt of acknowledgement, before leaping to the centre of the makeshift battlefield.

"I see… you are beginning with a type advantage." Steven remarked from his safe place. "At least you have some sense of tactical manoeuvre."

 _There is no point in using psychic attacks against it._ Ash decided. "Begin with a dark pulse."

Absol growled, gathering her innate dark energy, as she condensed it into a sphere, before discharging it out at the steel behemoth.

The dark red eyes of the behemoth glowed with eldritch power, as it lazily dodged its way out of the sphere's trajectory, and yet, making sure that its movements were the bare minimum required to do so. The sphere flew past the Metagross, before hitting the ground several yards away, causing a miniature explosion.

"Sloppy." Steven remarked.

"Get close to it, and use night slash. Use Double team."

Absol did the same, instantly shifting into multiple illusory forms of herself, which jumped in different directions, before leaping towards Metagross in the center, their horns leaking concentrated dark energy. For one second, it seemed Metagross would be vulnerable, but the very instant they leapt, it created a _reflect_ shield in front of a certain illusory form, which hit the shield, before having to jump back, while the rest simply faded through Metagross, revealing themselves to be mere illusions.

"What?" Ash yelled in shock. "Absol, use dark pulse quickly!"

The steel behemoth was too fast for him. Almost the moment Absol recoiled against the reflect screen, it prepared a bullet punch attack, and slammed into Absol, much before she could managed to manifest a Dark pulse in her mouth. The quick-paced bullet punch hit her abdomen, banishing her away by several feet, thrashing into the ground.

"Absol." Ash yelled in fright, but before he could run up to her, the disaster pokémon managed to pull herself together, and stood back up, though it was easy to notice that the single, albeit focussed move had left a powerful effect on her.

"Absol, return." Ash commanded softly, much to her indignant snarls. "Don't worry, the others will take it from here on. Get some rest." He raised her pokeball, sucking the somewhat sulking pokémon into it.

"Absol's good. No doubt about that." Steven remarked. "Then again, she was chosen for exactly that reason."

"How did Metagross identify her from the other illusions?" Ash asked brazenly.

Steven smirked. "Experience. Any experienced psychic will be able to do that, with time. In case you forgot Ash, _double team_ is a _normal_ -type move. It creates illusory forms of the user based on sight, not based on their innate energy. Even if there were a hundred illusions instead of one, only one would have the innate dark energy that Absol has. Of course, it is easier with the other types than with Dark, but that's Metagross for you."

"Oh." Ash muttered. Come to think of it, it made a lot of sense. Specifically considering that for Absol to use a perfect night-slash, it would not do to have her dark energies spread out into a dozens of afterimages of herself. If it had been so, then the effect of the attack would have been decremented to a point of non-existence. But the sheer precision with which Metagross had coordinated the entire thing spoke volumes about the beast's abilities.

He considered the next pokémon. "Gengar, you are next."

Gengar had a devilish grin on her face, as she dissipated into smoke, only to suddenly reappear in front of Metagross. It was a good thing that the area was quite shady, or else the harsh sunlight would have adversely affected her.

"Your latest capture," Steven arched an eyebrow. "Should be interesting."

"You have seen how it took out Absol, Gengar. Show it what you are capable of." Ash proclaimed.

Steven just smirked.

Gengar instantly vanished in the air, before reappearing behind Metagross to fire a shadow ball, and instantly, coming up front and firing another one. Instantly, Metagross propelled himself upwards into the air, allowing the shadow balls to explode into each other.

Gengar however, was far from being done yet. She instantly vanished before appearing in front of Metagross, and fired a powerful Confuse Ray, which Metagross instantly shot down with a hyper beam. Taking advantage of that situation, Gengar vanished again.

"That Gengar of yours is quite the trickster." Steven commented. "Should be interesting."

"Use night shade." Ash yelled, as Gengar's eyes glowed with otherworldly energies, as she shot out a beam of dark purple light out of her eyes, as Metagross fired a psybeam to counter it.

"Follow up by shadow claw. Get up close."

Metagross seemed prepared, as it prepared a full powered Meteor Mash, readied with perfect precision against the incoming strike.

Ash knew what would happen. Considering Metagross's precision, it was impossible that Gengar would manage to hit it in the first place. However, that wasn't what he actually had in mind.

 _I just hope this works._

"Gengar, take the hit, and use Lick."

"What?" Steven looked in surprise. He had _not_ expected _that_ of all things from a _Gengar_ at such a point of time. Ghost-type attacks were very effective on psychic types, and while Metagross's innate strength would soon be able to cancel out the effects, it was the intervening seconds that was troubling.

Ash smirked, an expression that was shared with Gengar, as she extended her pink tongue out and licked the Metagross on the face, causing a meagre paralytic effect on its body for a couple of seconds.

"Now use Perish song." Ash continued, his fingers now balled into fists.

Gengar let out a wail, which prolonged for three seconds before Metagross was able to break out of the effects of the paralysis, and send a burst of raw, untamed energy at Gengar, something that was utterly beyond her ability to defend against, as she collapsed.

Steven simply stared at Ash with an undecipherable expression on his face. "That… was an extremely underhanded technique, Ash."

"I take all the advantages I get." Ash answered. "I lost to Harrison back then because of something similar. Thought it might be poetic justice and all that." He lifted up a pokeball and returned Gengar. "Alakazam, you are next."

"Not necessary." Steven shook his head. "The effects of the Perish song would make Metagross faint anyway. I should remind you though, that had this been a real battle, I would have simply recalled Metagross and substituted someone else, cancelling out the effects."

"I know." Ash shrugged. "It was a one-trick pony, able to work only in this particular circumstance. I'll go for Destiny bond over it, in the battlefield." _And I hope Alakazam doesn't eat me up for not giving him a real chance to battle._

Steven lifted his head and let out a laugh. "I should tell you that Destiny Bond wouldn't have worked against Metagross. However, your shenanigans never cease to amaze me. Good work. Good work. You will have your training with Metagross."

Ash had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"However," It was Steven's chance to smirk. "You cheated to win, and thus, it will not be without repercussions. He enjoyed the look of horror on the young trainer's face. "Your Metagross will indeed get his training with my own, but it will be limited to only the two of them. _You_ will not be present there."

"Huh… but-"

"You've got something to say?" Steven challenged.

"… No." Ash lowered his head. "It will have to do as it is."

"Take this as a word of advice, Ash. This victory doesn't truly count as your own. Absol was already a powerful pokémon when you received her as your prize, and as you mentioned, it was her that defeated Gengar on a one-on-one battle. Am I right?"

Ash nodded his head. It was the truth.

"I have observed the battles you've fought so far as Ash, in the St. Anne tournament to be precise, as well as the gym battles."

"Huh—but how?" Ash inquired.

"Every formal battle like those at the gyms or at tournaments are recorded for future investigation. It helps the League look out for prospective Ace trainers from the wild."

"Oh."

"Yes, and I must say, your performance both interests me and disappoints me."

Ash widened his eyes. "Why would you say that?"

Steven looked squarely at him. "Well for one, I believe you overly rely on raw strength way too much. Whether it be Rhydon, or Metagross, raw strength is the center point behind your reasoning and all your battles demonstrate that flow. I don't disagree that you have a strong team, Ash. A prospective Salamence, Charizard and Gyarados. Three draconic species. A metagross, an Absol, and a Gengar. All three of them prime examples of their own type, and the same can be told about the prospective Aggron, the Rhyperior and the Poliwrath. The only other person that can boast of a team with that much raw power became very famous in the world and made a name for himself. You might know him as Lance."

Ash stood wide-eyed, hanging on to Steven's every word.

"However, that is where the comparison ends. Everything else about yourself as a pokémon trainer, and your team in general… is in ruins."

That hurt Ash. "Why… why would you say that?"

Steven arched an eyebrow. "The team you had prepared to fight Metagross. Tell me, with resorting to underhanded techniques, do you think _any of your pokémon,_ hell, _all_ of your pokémon could even make a scratch on Metagross?"

The answer was on his lips, despite how much he refused to say.

"They wouldn't. I'll of course, ignore Absol and Gengar from that list. Your Pidgeot is powerful, but all that power is unhoned as of now. The same goes for your Rhydon. Your Gyarados is barely more than a baby, and knows only three moves, and none of them mastered to perfection. Lance's Gyarados can take on my Aggron and probably win. Yours? It would be out before I count to three."

Ash looked away.

"I'm not scolding you, boy. Look at me." Steven barked. "I see in you a trainer with potential to become a Champion someday, Ash Ketchum. But right now, all I see is a kid with a lot of prospectively powerful pokémon, yet completely untrained. I have seen it in your matches. You use your pokémon's raw power like a sledgehammer, hoping to overwhelm the opponent with it, along with a type advantage."

He paused for a moment. "It might work for a rookie. For a trained professional, it is an inherently flawed way of battling. Sure, Lance favours overwhelming, raw power. But he also has the speed to match it up. Get in, throw a devastating blow, get out—that has always been Lance's way of battling, and it suits him as well, what with being a Dragon master. That girl seated there," he casually nodded in Cynthia's direction, "is perhaps the best tactical battler I have ever seen. In some ways, your own method of battling greatly mimics her own, if one were to ignore how… wasteful you are being."

"I… understand." Ash slowly pushed his face up. "I'll not disappoint you."

And Steven's face cracked with a little grin. "I know, and that is why I have high hopes on you. I want to see you at Indigo Plateau, as Champion someday. What did you learn from fighting Metagross?"

"That he packs a mean punch?" Ash offered.

Steven rolled his eyes.

"That's incredibly methodical." Ash answered. "Every single move seem to count."

"Exactly. Steel-types are powerful defenders. My pokémon have a ton of power, and an impenetrable defense, when used methodically, becomes overwhelming offence. A steel wall with pointed edges, just like my Aegislash, so to say. That has always been my own battling style."

Ash nodded his head, committing every single word told to him by heart. These were words from a Champion, and every single of them had utmost significance.

"I haven't seen what the other ghosts are capable of, or how far you can take yourself into training ghosts, but as far as the others are considered, you have… gathered a team that mimics all three of us in some way or the other. Right now, the team is hardly trained, an understandable fact considering your own remarkably tiny breadth of training experience. How long are you planning to stay here?"

"I… perhaps a week or more?" Ash offered. He had called Professor Oak to discuss the change of plans. While his mother hadn't been spectacularly happy about it, she was at least agreeable to the fact that he would return home straight away after that.

"And I imagine that Miss Sinnoh will be accompanying you for the time being?"

"I… think so."

Steven smirked. "Either way, try to imbibe a part of her own tactical genius into you during the duration. I still think that it was the mimicry of her own battling style that caught her attention in the first place. Imitation is after all, the best form of flattery."

 _That, and the fact that you have a pseudo-legendary at your command._ Steven didn't say.

"I will." Ash bobbed his head, digesting his words as he sent a sideward glance at the blonde-haired girl, who was sitting beneath the tree, in a completely benign fashion, almost making Ash _believe_ that she was just another ordinary trainer and not the Sinnoh Champion. He turned back to face Steven. "I will not disappoint either of you."

"I hope so." The former Champion returned. "Hand your Metagross's pokeball to me. You will be getting it back when you reach Kanto."

"That… that long?" Ash gulped.

"You have become overly dependent on using Metagross's raw strength, and unfortunately, so has Metagross. As someone from a family that has defended the Beldum Colony for centuries, it is almost a sin to allow that. I have your contact number. I will call you when it is time."

Ash shook his head in resignation. "Are you going to stay here for long?"

The silver-haired man shook his head. "I'm already delayed. I need to make a quick home visit, before I leave for Kanto. Once there, my Metagross can begin training the little one."

Ash almost snorted at Steven referring to _Metagross_ as _little one._ He hesitated a little, and turned towards his pokémon.

 _ **I will be fine, trainer Ash. The old keeper's family has defended us for generations.**_

Ash hesitated before plucking out Metagross's pokeball, and recalling him, handing it over to Steven. "What are you going to train him in?"

"You will have to find that out for yourself. In the mean while. I suggest you begin training your team. You have three badges now, which means the handicap is now gone. The battles with the gym leaders will be much more difficult from now on, the levels increasing with each badge gained."

Ash knew that already, inquiring about it from a certain trainer from Hoenn.

"Train yourself well. I will see you back during the Indigo League, or if… I don't know, you manage to score an appointment with another Legendary."

Ash almost snorted at that. Almost.

* * *

"So… what do you plan to do next, Ash?" Cynthia asked casually, seated opposite the raven-haired trainer in the Pokémon Center Cafeteria. Steven had made a quick departure from Mirage Island to Rustburo City, which hosted also the Headquarters of Devon Corporation as well as his home. Advantages of having a personal teleporter and all that. Steven's Gallade was, if what he had heard was right, able to give even a powerful Alakazam a run for his money in that field.

 _Too bad Metagross cannot learn Teleport. Would have worked wonders for instant travel. Alakazam…. He will be returning to Pallet anyway._

"Ash?" Cynthia repeated.

"Huh?" Ash asked, taken off-guard as Cynthia's voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"It is an offense to be thinking about something else, when you have a lady sitting in front of you. You do know that, right?" The blonde-haired girl teased.

Ash mumbled something, before getting his words out. "I didn't know that Champions were known as Lords and Ladies?"

Cynthia let out a shrill laugh. Ash decided he liked it.

"They aren't." The Sinnoh Champion answered. "I am the heiress of an old clan. People of my stature are usually referred to as Lords and Ladies, at least that's what my nannies and my professors have taught me."

"Clan?" Ash asked, bewildered.

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

Ash shook his head.

The girl sighed. "There are several old families in the pokémon world, you know, some of which are rather old, rich and influential, and have a deeper relation with pokémon than most. Steven for instance, is from the Stone family, who have had a deep relation with all of the Metagross colonies all over the world. The Stone Family has complete rights to any and all Metagross colonies, and are responsible for their protection."

 _So that was what Steven meant back then._

It made sense. Even Metagross had referred to Derrick as _'old keeper'._ He nodded his head, gesturing her to continue.

"Then of course, there are the Blackthorns of Unova, involved in the breeding of Hydreigon. Lance is from the Wataru Clan, famous for their relation to Dragonite. You will usually find most clans to be connected with some or other pseudo-legendary pokémon."

"Oh." It all sounded pretty interesting. Besides, it told him just how much was there about the world that he didn't know. "What about yours?"

"My family is actually related with the Blackthorns." Cynthia admitted, "Though in later centuries, we became our own independent family, the Shirona. Our family isn't connected with any pseudo-legendary per se, but we are involved in a lot of research on the Unown, precisely their connection with Palkia and Dialga, the rulers of Space and Time."

Ash stared at her wide-eyed. "Rulers of Space and Time? Palkia and Dialga? You mean to tell me that there are pokémon that can control space and time?"

Cynthia chortled mirthfully at that.

"What's so funny?" Ash returned, his awe shifting to a scowl. He certainly didn't want to come across as an ignorant idiot.

"More than half of Sinnoh is filled with runic monoliths about Dialga and Palkia. Maybe if you were to visit Sinnoh sometime, I can show you."

"I'd like that." Ash grinned. "I was reading a book at the center about legends and it said that Sinnoh and Hoenn had a lot of mutual history."

"Uh-huh, they do." Cynthia agreed. "Which book was it?"

"Hoenn: Myths and Legends." He answered. "Found it in the center."

Cynthia's eyes sparkled with interest. "Oh that one? It's pretty good for beginners. If you are interested in the Legends, I could send you some quality reading material you know."

"Considering everything, I thought it might be helpful." Ash murmured.

"Yeah, you seem to come across them with startling frequency. I'm jealous."

Ash stared at her, impassive.

"Seriously," Cynthia admitted. "I have spent a major part of my life staring at the ruins, wondering how it must be to see the Legends face to face. And you seem to work your way through their residences."

"Totally coincidental." Ash assured her.

"Perhaps." The girl countered. "I'm almost wishing to leave my job and travel with you, if that means I get to come across legendaries."

Ash stared at her with disbelief. "You would leave your Champion status to travel?"

"Why not?" Cynthia countered. "Well, I would have… but right now, there are some things I need to take care of. Maybe after a year or so, when it is a little more… peaceful, I guess… I'll resign from my position to try my luck at another league for a change."

"Wow…" Ash breathed. "And here I was thinking that being the Champion was the supreme achievement in life."

"Hardly." Cynthia snorted. "Honestly, there are dozens of things I'd rather be doing. Researching the legends being one of them. However, I have been crowned Champion and have some duties to perform, challenges to accept, and my own position to defend. This… time, that I am spending with you now… is possibly my last vacation before a busy year of work."

"Well, then shouldn't you be at home or with family right now?"

She gave him a blank stare. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, you just said that this is your last vacation. Shouldn't you spend it with… you know, people close to you?"

Cynthia stared at him, as if trying to memorize his facial features to the Tee. "Sometimes I wish to have you dissected and examined."

"Huh?" Ash panicked. "What for?"

"No reason. Scientific curiosity I guess." The blonde girl waved it away. "Never mind. Tell me, what do you plan to do next?"

Ash got the impression that she had just made a joke, and that it was on him. "Well, there's Sulphur Island close by. I was thinking of… you know… training with my pokémon for the next week or so."

"Oh." Cynthia muttered, somewhat lost in her own thoughts.

"What are you going to do?" Ash asked, slightly oblivious.

"I…." The blonde-haired girl didn't know how to answer that question. "I suppose I'll just aid you in training your pokémon then, considering there isn't pretty much on the line."

"You would?" Ash repeated, slack jawed, awed of the fact that a Champion had casually offered him training aid. It was possibly the best thing he could ever expect. "Allow me to train with you, I mean."

Cynthia blinked. Twice. "Not exactly…. I don't think you can… well, train with me."

"Oh." Happy face gone now.

"Not because I don't want to train alongside you, or anything, Ash."

He looked up, puzzled. "I know my pokémon aren't as trained or powerful as yours, but I-"

"It's not about that, Ash. You misunderstand." Cynthia explained. "Pokémon that are on similar levels can train with each other. My team has gone through rigorous training over the past four years, and they still do. Your pokémon, no offense meant, isn't simply ready for that level of conditioning."

He didn't have to like it, but he agreed with her explanation.

"However, as Steven must have told you, your way of battling is very similar to my own, though it is… for lack of a better word, a little too brutish, if I am being direct. Then again, considering your own time as a trainer, it is hardly your fault. So, I believe what I can help you is in… _optimising_ your team a little, so that they can perform better when you return to Kanto."

"You would do that for me?" Ash gasped.

Cynthia opened her mouth, and then closed it, scowling. "Yeah… I would."

"Cool." Ash grinned, his enthusiasm contagious, ignoring the dark scowl that marred her face for a moment. "Personally, I have a lot of plans for their training, and some specific move sets that should allow them better chances at fighting."

 _And here I thought we would be spending some time together._ Cynthia didn't say. "Ash, I wanted to talk to you about-" She hesitated.

"About?"

"… Nothing." She breathed out. "Did you really challenge the… Mewtwo that you'd capture him?"

Ash's words fell short, as he looked away. "I did."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because…" He didn't know what to say. Was it because he…? "I don't really know, to be honest. I just… feel so angry when I come across him. He feels to me… like an error."

"An error?" Cynthia asked, interested.

"Yes, like something that shouldn't exist in the first place." He looked up. "It might seem odd to you, but my view of Legendaries isn't really all that hyped up."

"Just because you seem to come across them so frequently doesn't mean they are-" Cynthia began.

"No wait, _listen."_ He interrupted her. "Mewtwo… isn't the first legendary I've come across."

"The Dragonite." The Sinnoh Champion suggested.

"He's a King, and a pseudo-legendary, yeah I know, but I'm not talking about him as well."

Cynthia stared at him, wide-eyed. "You have met more Legendaries?"

"…. I did."

"Which one?" the girl literally screamed into his face.

"I really… couldn't say." Ash replied meaningfully.

Cynthia stared at him for a moment, before she recognized his word play. "I see."

"I know you, and Steven, and the League… you all think that I might have something very… oh, I don't know, some spooky _chosen_ business with the Legendaries, but personally, I get the feeling that they think I am an…." The word paused at his lips.

"A what?"

 _ **You shouldn't have existed….**_

"An abomination, like I shouldn't have existed in the first place."

Cynthia stared at him, hard. "Why would you say that?"

Ash looked up. "Because that is what the King Dragonite said to me, when I met him in the first place."

* * *

 **The Lighthouse, Cerulean city.**

"I cannot believe that something of this scale was even possible." Samuel Oak spoke quietly, sipping the coffee served to him by his one-time student and fellow researcher, Bill Montgomery.

"I swear Samuel, I didn't have so much in mind when I made the agreement with Ash. He just seemed like an enthusiastic kid, one who had a problem with his Charmander and got me feathers from a shiny Pidgeotto."

"About that," Oak interrupted. "I was quite… surprised to see Ash listed as a freelance-based employee for Silph Co. Stealing my protégé, Bill?"

Bill laughed sardonically. "Come now professor, we both know that _that_ position has always been reserved for one single person."

"And Ash is his son."

Bill paused. "Ash is… Red's child?"

Oak nodded slowly.

"And does he know about… you know?"

"… not at the moment. No. He has no idea about his father's identity, or about his father's side of the family. He simply… believes that his father and mother went separate ways, and that it was probably a mutual decision."

"Rothsvale." Bill muttered. "He never talked about it?"

Samuel shook his head. "His mother is a woman of few expectations. Ash has always respected her wishes. Between himself and her, the little family is content."

Bill took a sip from his coffee. "Either way, I wasn't sure if I heard it right when you mentioned about Ash summoning the King. I should have known that something like that could happen." He paused. "Did you get any details?"

Samuel shook his head. "Ash is being rather discreet about it. I hope Kadabra has better success there."

"I didn't know you had one of those."

"My assistant's. She is…."

"Delia Ketchum. I've checked. Ash's entire profile is on the server, though there wasn't a father mentioned. I just thought it was one of those… single mother cases."

"It took some calls." Samuel replied evasively. "Delia's a good woman, but there's nothing one can do about it."

"I received two calls over the last few days." Bill explained. "Both of them pertaining to my relationship with Ash Ketchum."

"Who were those from?"

"The first was from the Champion."

Samuel opened his mouth, but then considered better. "The other?"

"Derrick Stone."

Samuel raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Imagine my reaction when I found that it was Derrick Stone who led Ash to a secret Beldum Colony in Kanto."

"…."

"My reaction exactly." Bill snorted.

"I didn't know there was a Beldum colony in Kanto at all." Samuel choked. "Where is it?"

"Sorry Proff. Secrecy agreements and all that. Devon Corp and Silph Co. are rather entwined in their business arrangements as of now."

"Interesting. Little Daisy is working with him as an apprentice archaeologist." The old man replied.

Bill recognized the name. "Your granddaughter, right? The one with the outlandish fashion sense?"

Oak laughed heartily at that comment. "The very same. Apparently, they are involved in some excavations at Tanoby Ruins. Fully privatized, and financed by Devon Corp. I heard Lance was furious."

"Well, Lance is… well…"

"Lance." Samuel answered.

Bill nodded in agreement.

"Why is Lance interested in Ash?"

Bill sighed, getting up from the seat. "It seems, Lance has good reason to believe that Ash is… responsible for summoning the Dragonite."

The old professor paled.

"You should check on Ash's trainer page, professor. Ash is now an honorary associate, league-sponsored, with Steven Stone as a contact."

"I don't like this." Samuel pronounced. "Lance has always been a little too… forceful with the scheme of things. Derrick Stone has always been a little too ambiguous, no question about his knowledge and talent though. That man had been a Hoenn Elite Four for decades after all."

"You think Lance is planning something? Or Stone?"

"I… don't know. Too many variables. Ash has just started his journey, and already he has come into communication with the Stone family, and now with Lance, though I'm not sure of the extent of the latter."

"Derrick Stone seems fond of him." The Montgomery scion suggested.

"I'm not worried about Stone. It's just… they are almost religious with Metagross. Why would Derrick Stone introduce a no-name child to a pseudo-legendary, just like that?"

"I don't know." Bill remarked, a little too casually. "Why did you?"

"Ash had always looked forward to-"Oak began.

"A Charmander, yes I know. I made it a point to inquire about it too, professor. It was really interesting why Professor Sycamore would choose to gift him with a _Hoenn_ pseudo-legendary, when there were so many options, an Axew or a Noibat or… even a Vibrava? It's not like it would be hard for you."

"What are you… insinuating?" Samuel asked carefully.

"You tell me, professor? What is there to insinuate?" Bill replied, a little too coolly.

Samuel just closed his eyes and took another sip.

"Either way, _the_ Samuel Oak gets _Red's son_ a pseudo-legendary draconic pokémon as a starter. Interesting thing, really, especially the conversation I had with Augustine Sycamore four days ago. Wonderfully interesting things he told me, like how he had _never_ really had a conversation regarding that in the first place."

Bill paused, observing Samuel's disturbed expression. "But let's just ignore that for a moment. Next, Derrick Stone comes in contact with the child, and introduces him to his next pseudo-legendary, and I'm pretty sure you must have seen the newly registered specimen in his team, the one that has been registered for some eight days now?"

For the first time in his life, Samuel Oak felt himself completely outwitted, having no idea what to say.

Bill smiled. "Come now Professor, surely you didn't think I'd just make… _just anyone_ a freelance associate under my direct supervision, because he helped me out with feathers from a _shiny_ Pidgeotto?"

* * *

 **Back in Hoenn.**

Sulphur Island was a rather large area, with more than half of it covered with thick grasslands, and an extinct volcano at the centre. Apart from the wild pokémon that had made the land their habitat, very few people actually came to that place. For one, it lacked almost any and all forms of services, and secondly, Mirage Island was an infinitely better option. That meant that Ash and Cynthia had more than enough space to set up tent and facilities for the upcoming week of their time training… or well, helping in training, as far as Cynthia was concerned.

"Tell me Ash, what exactly was the training regimen you had in mind?"

Ash gathered his thoughts. "Well, I was thinking of teaching some… long-range moves to my pokémon like always, and work on a particular group."

"Which one?"

"Well, Shelgon, Poliwhirl, Crawdaunt and… Charmander."

"Ah, the elusive Charmander of yours." Cynthia drawled. "Would you like to tell me about him? Or is it still one of your secret shenanigans?"

Ash had a somewhat jaded expression on his face. "Sorry for the reaction back then. Well, Charmander just has a history, and it's not a nice one."

Cynthia nodded understandingly. "If you are willing to share that, maybe I could do something to help. I have a Charizard of my own, after all."

Ash looked at her in surprise. "You have a Charizard?"

"Of course I do." Cynthia snorted. "He's one of my top battlers after all. After Garchomp, he's probably the strongest in the group in sheer power."

 _I didn't know that._

"That reminds me, you have never really seen my team, have you?" Cynthia asked rhetorically. "Well, I don't have my entire team on me, but some of them… which I thought would be useful to your… training." She plucked out six pokeballs from her jacket, and threw them out. "Come out, everyone."

Flashes of red light inundated the entire area, only to be replaced by six pokémon. Standing in front of her, was her mighty Garchomp, and much to Ash's disbelief, a Rhyperior. Beside them were four more pokémon, none of which he could recognize. Holding the pokedex in front, he scanned them.

 **Milotic. The tender pokémon. Evolved form of Feebas.** Dexter narrated about the exotic, and elegant sea serpent, which looked a bit larger than Gyarados himself, if albeit much less monstrous. **Milotic is said to be the most beautiful of all the Pokémon. It has the power to becalm such emotions as anger and hostility to quell bitter feuding. They live at the bottom of large lakes.**

The next pokémon looked like a purple, swirling vortex with green eyes and a black spiral for a pupil in its left eye. Around its face are green orbs that encircle it, its "body" is connected to a stone base. **Spiritomb. The Forbidden pokémon. A Pokémon that was formed by 108 spirits. It is bound to a fissure in an odd keystone.**

The third pokémon looked like a massive eagle, if albeit slightly smaller than Pidgeot in size, though no less in bulk. Its entire body was covered with red fur, with a dark purple underbelly, and a white crest on the head. **Braviary. The valiant pokémon. Known as "the hero of the skies," this Pokémon is so proud and so brave that it will never retreat, even when it's injured.**

The last pokémon was humanoid, with a greyish body, having several red and yellow adornments on itself. **Medicham. The meditate pokémon. t is said that through meditation, Medicham heightens energy inside its body and sharpens its sixth sense. This Pokémon hides its presence by merging itself with fields and mountains.**

"Whoa…" Ash gushed. "They look damn powerful."

"They are." Cynthia smiled. "They are part of my original team of fifteen, when I challenged the Sinnoh League for the first time."

"And you won." Ash completed for her.

"Been checking me out, have you?" Cynthia teased.

"Uh… yeah."

Cynthia snorted at his obliviousness towards her word play. "Well, seeing your pokémon team the other day, I thought that these six would be good for training them to be a bit more optimised."

"What do you mean by that? You mentioned that during lunch."

Cynthia almost snorted again. "Well, at first sight, your team looks rather intimidating. However, if you look close enough, each of them is flawed with several limitations. That is without even mentioning the fact that they don't even understand themselves as a team, and are simply latching together because of you."

Ash frowned. Steven had said the same the other day as well, though he hadn't really given him any details about it. "Can you… expand that a little?"

Cynthia nodded. "Release your pokémon."

Without further comment, Ash released all of the pokémon he had revealed the previous day. He had yet to welcome Trevenant to the group, and the same could be said to Dusclops and the exotic dark-type. Ash had decided that he would initiate training with the rest of his team first, and then after a few days of them beginning to bond together, he would release Trevenant first, then the Dusclops and then the mystery pokémon. Having too many unknowns together could create a lot of mess, and he certainly wanted to avoid that.

"Hey guys, meet Cynthia and her pokémon. They will be helping us train and become more powerful for the coming few days."

A couple of snorts and grunts met his proclamation. The rest were busy staring at the fully evolved monsters, who were almost indifferent to their presence.

"Understand this carefully, because I do not _really_ like repeating myself." Cynthia replied in a no-nonsense tone, much like the way she behaved while talking about Charmander on the ship. "There are three kinds of moves- the basic, the advanced and the trick moves."

Ash nodded.

"The basic ones are those which pokémon learnt as a first-stage. As they progress and evolve, the basic moves are slowly replaced by more powerful ones, and finally, the pokémon is left with a fixed group of _advanced versions_ , which are, so to say, its strongest move sets." She paused. "In case it wasn't clear, your pokémon are still in the baby-move stage."

Ash bobbed his head in understanding.

"The tricky moves are… so to say, moves that pokémon depend upon, irrespective of their forms. The Lick your Gengar used for instance, is one of them."

"I understand."

Cynthia nodded in acknowledgement, staring at the team of twelve standing in front of her. "I observed your pokémon during the matches, Ash, and there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed. I don't even need to remind you that I was there when Gyarados evolved, do I?"

Ash shook his head.

"Your Gyarados, despite his sheer size, is a baby at best. He knows three moves, none of which are perfected, and has little battle experience. It takes months to train a Gyarados well, and yours is…." She paused, fearing she had been a little discourteous. "What I mean is, Gyarados needs a lot of help as of right now. It would do him good to follow Milotic, who will be his mentor for the days to come."

Ash nodded, glancing at Gyarados and wondering how to convince the draconic creature to follow Milotic's commands without any complications. Gyarados weren't generally, the most understanding or the most cooperative of pokémon.

"The Gengar is powerful and has a high amount of battle experience. Anyone watching her battle the previous day would know that. You are extremely lucky to have her. The same goes for Absol. Both of them have moved on to their more advanced move sets and you can work on giving them special augmentations." She paused, "Though I'm afraid… I've never really seen an Alakazam with you. Did you catch him recently?"

"He's… not mine. He's my mom's pokémon, and is here to make sure I don't get myself killed." Ash replied embarrassedly.

"Tough luck with that." Cynthia snorted, a reaction shared by Alakazam as well. "I assume he's quite well–trained?"

 _ **Be assured.**_

Cynthia arched an eyebrow, staring at the psychic-type who had just communicated with her. "I will… take your word on that." She turned back to face Ash. "Your Rhydon looks powerful, but fairly limited. His earthquake seems decent enough, though he seems to overly rely on it. Against someone with speed, or worse, a flying-type, Rhydon is as good as dead meat."

Ash cringed at that statement.

"Rhydon needs a fair amount of long-range moves. I believe he's capable of flamethrower, yes?"

"He's… decent." Ash replied, still cringing at her harsh criticism of his team. Nevertheless, he agreed that each and every point was well-founded.

"I will believe it when I see it. Rhydon needs a good long-range attack. Something like thunderbolt, or hyper beam. I believe you have a Hyper beam TM on you?"

Ash shook his head. "I had thought that Gyarados would be able to teach it to the others once he managed to master it."

"A plausible approach, considering everything." Cynthia bit her lip. "Either way, he needs a long-ranged move.'

"I have an ice-beam TM on me." He supplied helpfully.

"That will… suffice for now. Either way, Rhyperior is an expert in hyper beam. You can have Rhydon and Gyarados learnt it from him. Considering how… eager he is for using Earthquake all the time, I will consider it to be perfected in due time. You need to focus on getting him at least one more advanced move, more particularly, the Stone Edge or even better, Mega horn."

Ash nodded, committing her words to memory. "Mega horn would be a rather powerful one."

"It is a move used by the apex pokémon. Should your Rhydon be able to progress with at least one of those two, it will drastically improve his performances in battle. That, and he needs to learn hyper beam, and master the flame thrower. Rhyperior can help him in both matters. As for the Lairon, he can… just join in, though you can work with him separately later on."

Ash nodded. "I guess I will work with Ice beam later on."

"You do that." Cynthia agreed.

Ash turned around to face Rhydon. "You will be training with Rhyperior from now on, Rhydon."

The rock-type stared at his final form with a mix of jealousy and challenge. The fully-evolved Rhyperior simply snorted back.

"Your," Cynthia paused for a second, "… mega-evolved Pidgeot… she needs to comprehend the true limits of her strength and prowess. I will simply leave Braviary to give her a good competition and leave it at that."

Ash inwardly agreed that there was really not much to say there, considering how Braviary and Pidgeot were already sizing each other, if their mutual glares were of any indication.

"Your Shelgon will be learning Draco Meteor from my Garchomp, who will see to it if Shelgon can be made to learn something apart from what it can already do." Cynthia declared. "I admit I don't know the true scope of your Absol and Gengar's strengths, but Spiritomb is a ghost/dark type, one of only two specimens of its type in the world. I suppose she'll find something to impart to Absol and Gengar."

Ash shrugged. There was always more to learn. If not, at least it would be good practice battling against a Champion-level pokémon.

"As for your Poliwhirl, I believe he has the ice beam perfected. You should get him to learn Blizzard from Milotic, or Ice punch, both of them are rather effective. Though… I'd suggest having him learn a bit on the fighting end from Medicham. It would be useful once he evolves into a … Poliwrath, I suppose. I must admit I am slightly biased towards that form than the other one."

Ash chuckled. "Misty said the same thing."

"She's an upcoming water-master. It is expected."

Ash wisely didn't point out how Cynthia had been initially… put-off by Misty's rather… omniscient attitude.

"Well?" Cynthia put her hands on her waist, staring at the fourteen-year-old trainer from pallet, in interrogative fashion. "That sorts everything out, and your pokémon will stick to that routine for the remainder of the week. So why don't you bring that Charmander over here and start telling me what's the matter with him?"

Ash and Charmander blinked at each other, the former simply resigning himself to follow the orders of the girl standing in front of him. The fire-lizard on the other hand, simply kept on glancing from his trainer to the girl and then back, wondering how in hell he became the point of discussion out of nowhere.

Or at least that was what Ash thought the lizard thought, as he opened his maw and let out a confused squeak.

"Chaar?"

* * *

 **AN: Yeah, and the training begins. Ash's return to Kanto seems to get further delayed. I will take this opportunity to answer a couple of questions asked in the reviews.**

 **Will I expand the story beyond Kanto? Of course I will, just not the way you might expect it to be.**

 **Harrison is with team Rocket…? hmmm. Interesting idea! Let's see if that is what it turns out, eh?**

 **Ash has been 'too focussed on catching new pokémon'? I respectfully disagree. The only pokémon he wanted to catch was a Carvanha (and caught Crawdaunt instead). Magneton was only caught because Rhydon wanted that. He won Absol in the tournament. I will agree about Magikarp, and while he did want a single ghost, he didn't certainly plan for having the rest. Same goes for the mystery pokémon. I'd rather say that his team has been increasing quite a bit recently, though none of that is his own fault. Focus on training? Uh… what else has he been doing ever since he started the journey again?**

 **Ash is more important to Mewtwo? Um… maybe… like the way watching Fate: Unlimited Blade works is important to me?**

 **Misty gave him a water stone. So, it seems Poliwhirl might evolve into a Poliwrath.**

 **Some Char action? Coming right up.**

 **What happened to Harrison…? Hmm… wouldn't we all like to know?**

 **Will Ash have more permanently-mega pokémon? I… don't think he will.**

 **Bill raised his poke roster to 20, not 12.**

 **Okay, that was all. I hope you like the chapter, and if you do, please put a review. Thank you.**


	19. Pride and Prejudice

"This is…" Cynthia had an unreadable expression on her face, as she shifted the papers, glaring at the content printed on them. "You do understand right what this means?"

With the rest of his pokémon gone ahead with Cynthia's own for their own training, Ash had gotten out, albeit a little reluctantly, the material that the Nurse at Bavarian Cliff and Bill had independently handed him for study. Understanding that someone like her would better understand it than him, Ash had shown her the material to make her own judgement.

"That Charmander was bred in captivity and by experimentation?" He tried.

Cynthia gave him an odd look, glancing at Charmander every now and then. The little fire-lizard was chatting away with Cynthia's Garchomp, who had surprisingly, taken a little interest at him for some reason. Shelgon had been trying to create a Draco meteor with Garchomp's help for the last two hours, and after what was possibly am extremely faint version of the move, the little draconic pokémon had been rendered completely exhausted, after which Ash had allowed him to take a nap beneath one of the trees.

"Even Garchomp feels it." She muttered, before facing Ash. "This is not just experimentation, Ash. This is… mutating pokémon to create something new, something alien."

The image of a metallic, armour-clad psychic came to mind. Ash quickly rejected the mental image and focussed on the issue. "So you are saying that Charmander is not… a Charmander?"

"No, he isn't. He just _appears_ to be one. More importantly, he thinks himself to be one."

It reminded him strangely of Bill Montgomery. "But he looks like-"

"Have you ever seen a Charmander with a dragon-typing?" Cynthia challenged. "Yes, I agree that Charizard have several latent draconic traits within them, but they are inherently, a fire/flying type. That Charmander… is as close to Gible as you can get."

"Gible?"

"The baby stage of Garchomp." The Sinnoh girl replied offhandedly. "Charmander's DNA samples… they are in a state of mutation. You never know how he's gonna look like when he evolves."

"But he looks like a Charmander right now." Ash challenged.

"Sure, he does. But Evolution has a way of pushing up traits and pulling others back. With such a… unstable DNA sequence, there is no end to what might happen when Charmander might evolve? For all we know, it could have adverse effects on him as well."

 _What?_ Ash stood up, taking a step back. "No, that can't possibly happen."

Cynthia observed his challenging glare, and sighed. "I'm not telling you that it will happen. I'm just saying that _anything_ can happen. Positives, negatives…"

"Bill said that I'd be up for a surprise when he evolves." Ash admitted, his face hard.

"Bill as in Bill Montgomery, right?"

The trainer from Pallet nodded.

"You sure have a lot of contacts up your sleeve." Cynthia teased. "Either way, these… these papers, they are proof that hybridization of pokémon is being conducted."

"Hybridized pokémon." Ash repeated.

"Yes, think of it this way. They managed to fuse draconic DNA with the Charizard-line, which have latent draconian genetics inside it, to create… well to create your Charmander, though I'm not sure if he is simply one of many, or just one of the… aberrations produced when the experiment was made on a large scale."

Ash felt bile in his throat at the very thought of it. Someone might have regarded _Charmander_ as a scrap, and thrown him away, and then that Damien guy had done the same? No wonder Charmander suffered from so many psychological issues.

"What I am afraid of this the fact that someone might just be doing this on a much larger scale on pokémon populations."

"But wouldn't that be a… you know, illegal? The league would come after them." Ash countered.

"Yes, they would, and it is obvious that whoever is doing this, must indeed collect huge samples of a particular kind of pokémon to-"

Both of them glanced at each other, as they arrived at the same conclusion.

"The phantump!"

"So that's what they stole the Phantump population for." Ash muttered. "But why Phantump?"

"I… cannot say. I am not an expert on ghost-types." Cynthia admitted. "You should forward this information to Steven as soon as possible so that he-" She stopped midway.

"He what?" Ash questioned.

"No… that's not really an option. Doing it via the standard rules would require evidence and," Cynthia looked a little saddened, "they might want to take in Charmander for testing to try finding out more about the experimentation."

"Not an option." Ash stepped back, his stance defensive. "I'm not going to allow anyone take Charmander away from me. Not even you."

Cynthia stared at Ash with a scrutinizing stare. "I wasn't… asking you to do that, Ash. I merely said that it might be a possibility that the League officials might want to conduct some tests on Charmander and-"

"Don't you hear me?" Ash literally yelled. It was nigh uncharacteristic of him. "I'm not letting Charmander out to anyone. He stays with me, that's all and you better- NO!"

Said pokémon, meanwhile, seemed to have noticed the ongoing commotion, and had begun to fear the worst. After all, the blonde-haired girl had raised some issues about him back on the ship too. Without thinking about the repercussions, he opened his maw and in frustration and anger, let out a loud roar.

"Chaar!"

Charmander's maw had flooded with fire energy, which he had belched out towards the blonde-haired girl. It had been completely sudden, and even Garchomp hadn't expected something like that to happen. The torrent of flames shot towards Cynthia who had only managed to glance at it in horror, before someone leapt towards her, as the two fell down on to the ground, narrowly missing the flame-thrower.

There was a tiny thud that very moment, as Garchomp swiped one of his fin-like protrusions towards the Charmander, slamming it into the little lizard with a brick-break, sending Charmander flying to the ground. It might have even liked the little guy, but attacking his trainer was a transgression that didn't go unpunished.

"Ash- are you okay?" Cynthia managed to ask, her hands still on the ground, with Ash fallen above her, his face on her breasts. With a grunt, he pulled himself up, as she smirked. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Ash answered, a little befuddled with the entire thing. "Are you?"

"I'm." Cynthia admitted, pushing herself off the ground. "I guess Charmander really doesn't like anyone talking about him like that, does he?"

"No." Ash admitted weakly. "Nearly destroyed my Pokedex when it informed me about his… altered genetics." He looked at the fallen fire-lizard on the ground, trying to pull himself up, groaning as he did. He would have gotten to the lizard by then if not for the fact that Cynthia had held on to his wrist rather tightly.

Cynthia's lips curled, her fingers still around Ash's wrist. "So he has a lot of anger, doesn't he?"

"I… won't blame him. He gets like that whenever anyone comments anything about him _not_ being a Charmander." He paused, as her stance became a little more recognizable. "Wait, you aren't going to attack him because of that, are you?" Ash asked, wariness creeping into his voice.

"Actually, I am." Cynthia's tone seemed odd. "The little guy is too attached to being a Charmander. We will need to force that attitude out of him."

"Wait, what?"

But the Sinnoh Champion was done with answering questions. "Garchomp, that little tyke believes himself better than dragons. Show him a real dragon breath."

"Wait—no!" Ash stressed, doing his best to pull himself away, but Cynthia had gripped his arm tightly. Suddenly, she let his hand go, but surprisingly, he was still unable to move even by a little bit. It seemed like something had-

 _Oh damn._

Medicham had put him under a psychic trap.

"Cynthia, what are you doing?" He grit his teeth.

"You've kept him protected far too much for his own good. Ash." The blonde-haired girl commented in a cold, composed tone. "However, the same protectiveness has also delayed Charmander from overcoming his own fears." She looked up at the fire-lizard trying to get up on the ground, and yelled. "Your trainer is now unable to help you, Charmander. Let's see what a black spot you are in the name of the Charmander species."

That seemed to enrage Charmander even more. Somehow managing to pull himself off the ground, the little lizard sprang up to its feet, his claws shining like bright steel as he sprang towards the dragon, his mouth filled with whatever fires he could pull up from his inner flame, throwing out a flamethrower.

It did jack shit to Garchomp, who simply let out a snort at his pathetic display.

"Show him a real flamethrower, Garchomp."

Garchomp snorted once again, before belching out a wider, brighter and infinitely more scorching burst of liquid fire towards the little fire-type, scorching him half to death. Even then, Charmander pulled himself up and threw up another flamethrower. Apparently, all the exercises alongside Bagon (now Shelgon) that Ash had made it do had paid off.

"Very stubborn. I'll give you that." Cynthia winked at Ash, who had stopped fighting against the psychic trap and was now looking at Charmander as if for the first time. He knew it—Charmander knew it- that the only possible move that could be effective at this moment on Garchomp would be a draconic move. Besides, Charmander knew it well that his flamethrower was sub-par at best. That was why Ash had made him perfect his dragon-based attacks as much as possible over the time they had been together.

Yet, the little lizard just kept on belching out fire attacks one after another.

"Cynthia… you have got to stop this." Ash whispered, pleading to her. "Charmander's inner flame is devastatingly low. If he keeps this up, his inner flame might start flickering all over again."

Cynthia smirked. "And that is exactly the fallacy you have been in, Ash." She turned towards Charmander. "Your pathetic fire attacks will do nothing to Garchomp, and yet you continue."

Charmander however, was beyond caring at this moment. His body was scorched at places, his fur scratched and injured, and yet the little lizard kept on scratching against Garchomp's thick hide with his shiny claws.

Garchomp snorted at that.

"They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results." Cynthia chuckled. "I'm not sure if Charmander's behaviour should be called loyalty or insanity."

"I'd call it diligence." Ash put in, much to her surprise. "Watch."

With a rather loud yell, Charmander slashed into Garchomp's nigh impenetrable hide, making the larger dragon wince in pain, as he stepped back, falling onto his knees. The final slash had severed into his muscles just above it.

"Ah, I see. Metal claw. The effect increases upon successive strikes. I should have remembered that." She turned towards Ash. "Did you teach him that trick?"

"It was a good practice against Metang and his steel-body."

"Intelligent." Cynthia praised. "However, this won't change a thing. Garchomp-"

But Garchomp had already thrown a powerful pulse of draconic energy towards the lizard, slamming into his head, literally smashing Charmander into the dirt.

Cynthia almost cringed. "I really hope that the attack turned him unconscious. Garchomp isn't in the mood to play anymore." She turned towards Ash and looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Ash, but I need Charmander to go through this. Please forgive me." She turned towards the Medicham. "Use Confusion on Charmander."

Unfortunately or not, Charmander was anything but unconscious. Realizing that his fire-attacks were only tiring out, and his metal-claw attack wasn't going to help him again, he would have to resort to techniques that were, more effective. He knew that perfectly, but resorting to dragon-based moves would only prove the blonde-girl right, and that was a blow on his pride that Charmander would not, could not, take. No, he would have to keep on trying. After all, he _was_ a Charmander, and there must be something that he could-

Ash's agonized screams reverberated through the entire grassland. Screams from the one voice that Charmander never, _ever, ever,_ expected to hear. A voice that had been for him when no one else had ever.

 _ **"I also think that you are a very dedicated pokémon, with great inner strength… I'd like you… to be a part of my team."**_

 _ **"I understand that you are not like any other Charmander… but that doesn't matter. After all, you are special."**_

His trainer had told him that his lack of fire-ability didn't matter, as long as he was the best in what he could do. Yet, a part of Charmander had always held out an immutable belief that he was, after all was said and done, a Charmander. After all, he looked like one, and talked like one.

"… _**I will always be there for you, and look out for you. You can trust me on that."**_

Charmander had adored his trainer for those words, and now the same person was in agony, only because he had chosen to stick to defy the attack on his own pride instead of using attacks, that he inherently knew, were much more powerful and had a greater chance of getting that Garchomp hurt.

And something inside Charmander _inherently changed._

His tail flame suddenly sprouted out, almost in defiance, now burning several times more powerfully than normal, as his entire body seemed to glow with a strange, primal power. His eyes darkened as draconic energy flooded inside his maw, his claws glowing whiter than silver, and elongating—a clear application of dragon claw in effect.

Pride be damned, if he had to choose between that and his trainer. There was no choice in the first place.

And Charmander gave in to his draconic power.

"Whoa…" Cynthia muttered to herself. "Using the Blaze ability like that, to fuel his _draconic_ moves. I could never even begin to fathom that such a thing could even happen. Think of what he could do with this ability knocked in, and a dragon rush attack used in combination."

She looked up at Garchomp who still didn't seem to care at all.

And Charmander attacked.

His limbs now strangely a lot faster, his claws extended, his eyes filled with icy fire, and his entire physical form strangely engulfed in draconic energies, Charmander was a sight to behold. With the draconic energy swirling around him, Charmander looked way taller than he was. His maw opened as he threw out a powerful dragon pulse towards Garchomp, something that Garchomp neutralized midway with his own dragon pulse. That however, didn't seem to make the little lizard pause in his tracks.

 _Is this…?_ Cynthia thought… _Am I witnessing some kind of transition-state between two forms?_

Charmander strangely, seemed indifferent to Garchomp. His motivations had changed, as had the meaning and the final objective of the battle. His enemy wasn't the frighteningly powerful Garchomp standing there, but the blonde-haired girl who commanded it. The same blonde-haired girl who had held his trainer captive and was causing him pain. He leapt off the ground- a good twenty-feet up in the air, as Cynthia watched with unending awe at his mode of attack. For a powerful Gabite to do that was one thing, their fins alongside their body anatomy was literally built for it. But for a Charmander to do the same was-

Inexplicably mind-boggling.

Charmander, still high up in the air, belched out a powerful dragon-breath attack, right at Cynthia, only for Garchomp to suddenly appear in front of her, and with a perfect execution of Dual Chop, sent out two criss-crossed waves towards Charmander, not only deflecting the attack but hitting him straight in the face.

Only if that were all. Garchomp _literally teleported,_ appearing right in the air in front of Charmander, before slamming a powerful dragon pulse in the face, the sheer power of the attack sending Charmander, engulfed in a mixture of his own draconic energy, and the sheer power of the dragon pulse, flying into the waters of the flowing waters of the sea, where he fell with a crash.

"Charmander!" Ash yelled, knowing very well that the flowing waters could have an adverse effect on his tail flame. What happened though… was nothing like he had expected.

With a reverberated roar, a being of liquid light jumped up from the waters, his entire body shining brightly, as it slowly condensed, morphing constantly between Charmander's own form and a much larger form.

Charmander was evolving.

 _Is he…._ Ash stared in awe. Beside him, Cynthia was watching the event as well, surprise and awe in her eyes and a little smile on her face.

After several moments of constant metamorphosis of the condensed energy state, Charmander's form seemed to finally arrive at a final state. His head, initially round, now had a single horn protruded out of it backwards as was true for Charmeleon in general. His bulk had been magnified, now reaching a respectable five feet, almost as tall as Ash himself. That meant a mammoth of a Charmeleon, since most of them reached four feet at most, with Charizard ranging from five to six feet in height. However, the change of bulk and height weren't the only differences.

His body had morphed as well. From his elbows, protruded backward were two long, fin-like protrusions, which could act as makeshift blades by the looks of it, just like Gabite. His maw looked much larger, with larger frontal jaws and with two pairs of fangs protruding out of his maw on either side, one pair close to the opening and the other towards the cheek. His tail flame, now burned more powerfully, though it had gained an icy blue color. His traditional brick red body color had been replaced by bluish-black, though the underbelly remaining a lighter shade of cream. The claws on his fore and hind limbs looked much more enlarged and screamed danger to anyone who had offended it even by mistake, a natural fact considering that Charmeleon were by nature, an aggressive species.

Ash pulled out his pokedex, as Dexter orated its knowledge of the specimen standing in front of him after a momentary scan.

 **Charmeleon. Evolved form of Charmander. Charmeleon mercilessly destroys its foes using its sharp claws. If it encounters a strong foe, it turns aggressive. In this excited state, the flame at the tip of its tail flares with a bluish white color.**

 **This Charmeleon is male. Current Move set: Dragon claw, dragon breath, dragon rage, metal claw, dual chop and flamethrower. Ability: Blaze, Tough claws.**

And then Dexter went all crazy once again.

 **Odd specimen. Checking for newer cross-breeds. Match not found. Error. Error. Checking database server…. Body-color mismatched. Body-proportions mismatched. Monster-gene active. Confirmed. Inner Flame sub-par. Genetic-typing: Dragon. Genetic ability mismatched. Please report to authorities.**

"Tough claws?" Cynthia narrowed her eyes. "I've never heard of that ability. Check it out in detail."

Ash did as told without hesitation.

 **Searching database servers... Not found. Searching Silph private repositories. Match found. Tough claws. Status: Found.**

 **Tough claws: Powers up moves that make direct contact. Possible ability for… Error. Access denied. Trying again. Access denied. Trying again. Access denied. No authentication. Proceeding for Data removal.**

Silence pervaded for a moment, before Dexter spoke again.

 **Tough claws. Powers up moves that make direct contact. No other information available.**

That shut Dexter up, as the supercomputing device went cold.

"That was… interesting." Cynthia muttered, before something else attracted her attention. Specifically, a one-in-the-world kind of cross-breed between a Gabite and a Charmeleon, who was glaring at her, the hatred swirling in his eyes more than enough to make her take a step back.

With an ear-splitting roar, Charmeleon leapt off the ground, using mobility that betrayed its large bulk as it reached thirty feet into the air, before changing direction, not unlike Bagon did, as he swooped towards the blonde-haired trainer, his claws glowing like silver, and his eyes burning with vengeance, only to-

Stop midway, managing to use the claws on his legs to resist its own momentum, as Ash stepped in front of her, making Charmeleon somehow stop himself bare inches close to his own body.

If only that was enough.

Apparently, he had underestimated the changes in his own body. With shocking realization, he found a single claw of his arm, now dug inside Ash's chest, all the way through his jacket and shirt, causing bright-red blood to ooze out of the clothing. His eyes widened with shock, he slowly pulled the claw out, seeing a miniature part of it now colored with a sticky, bright-red liquid.

His trainer's blood.

"Charman- Charmeleon," Ash called out softly, his voice filled with hesitation, paying no heed to the tiny amount of blood oozing through his chest. Charmeleon was presently, of a much higher priority than a little blood lost. A part of his mind was beginning to feel the effects of blood loss though, as well as the effect of the dragon rush that had slammed into him with Charmeleon's attack.

But Charmeleon was past hearing it. He had given in to his rage, evolved into a monstrosity, one whose powers he himself couldn't fully comprehend, and had now _hurt_ his trainer. The same trainer who had suffered pain to save him.

That was… sacrilege.

The creature slowly took hesitant steps backward, before letting out another ear-splitting roar, and with a last look of hatred towards the blonde-haired girl, suddenly moved _in,_ snatched Ash from her person, before leaping off the ground, before arriving on the top of a tiny hillock, before leaping off again, until the two had vanished somewhere deep inside the forests close to the volcano.

"…. Shit." Cynthia muttered. She had definitely not seen that coming.

* * *

 **Sometime later.**

Ash woke up from a troubled sleep, finding himself upon a rocky floor inside what seemed to be a rocky cavern. From the inside, it looked like he was inside one of the caverns on the exterior of the volcano, surrounded by forests on all sides. That reminded him…

"Charmeleon?" He squeaked, finding it a little hurting to try getting up. He looked at his chest, finding several leaves and squashed berries on his exposed chest, the front of his jacket and shirt torn rather haphazardly using claws. By the looks of it, the blood loss had stopped, though the effects of the Dragon rush had left him slightly shaken.

He thought he heard something shift in the shadows.

"Charmeleon?" He called out, hesitation, and (as much as he wanted to deny it) fear creeping into his voice. There was no saying how Charmeleon's mentality was after the evolution, especially because of his mutating genetics. Plus, Charmeleon weren't exactly the most cooperative types, and were quick and subtle to anger. In that aspect, they were very much like Charmeleon.

 _Then again, he isn't a normal Charmeleon, is he?_ He couldn't help but think.

There was a sound of splintering wood, as someone stepped into the cavern. Even from the distance, Ash could see the shadows falling into the cavern, as the dark outline of Charmeleon came into view, his claws shining brightly like hot silver. His eyes, dark and yet burning with an indescribable emotion, and his tail flame, the icy blue one, flickering brightly.

For that moment, Ash Ketchum knew fear.

"Charmeleon?" He called out, fear distinct in his voice.

Charmeleon made an indistinct noise, before he slashed his claws on the solid rock, causing sparkles of flame to be born, which fell onto the wood and shrubbery that Charmeleon had unceremoniously dropped on the floor, causing a tiny bonfire to start burning on top of the pile.

Charmeleon grunted towards Ash, as if to inquire about his health.

Feeling a little more courage seeping into his veins, (after all, Charmeleon must have been the one to treat him with the berries and the leaves), he allowed his face to shift into a small grin. "I'm good. It hurts a little but I'm good enough." He paused, frowning, "why did you bring me here?"

Charmeleon looked at him, his expression conflicted, before becoming indecisive and slashing his powerful claws against the walls of the cavern, causing furrows to appear on the surface with every single strike.

"Those are some powerful claws you know." Ash commented. "One strike from that and not even Metagross would be left unharmed. Even Shelgon, I think."

Charmeleon grunted at the mention of his team-mates, before slowly stepping back, sitting on his back on the rocky floor, his bluish tail flame emanating a soft glow in the darkness of the cavern.

"Are you angry at what happened?"

After what seemed to be several seconds, Charmeleon nodded his head, slowly.

"You are… angry at evolving?" Ash stressed, making sure not to sound accusing.

Charmeleon let out a grunt, holding out his hands, before letting out another roar.

"Whoa… peace." Ash cringed, his ears hurting at the reverberation caused by the sound. "You… you are angry because you look different, don't you?"

Another grunt, this time of resignation.

"I think you look incredibly cool."

Charmeleon looked at him, wide-eyed, as if afraid his trainer had finally gone round the bend. With exaggerated facial and hand movements, he tried to convey about the changes in him, the differences between what he should have become and what he became, pointing several times at the wound, as if his evolution was somehow to blame for that as well.

"You didn't know that I'd jump in front of Cynthia." Ash replied calmly.

The draconic creature let out a growl at the mention of her name.

"She isn't bad, you know." Ash replied slowly, at the same time, pushing him up from the floor to reach towards the draconic creature near him. "She did that only to get you out of the shell you created around yourself."

Charmeleon grunted, as if in defiance.

"And even I am to blame for it."

The blackish dragon turned his snout towards Ash, his eyes filled with incomprehension.

"We both know that you might have looked like a Charmander, but because of the situations of your birth…" He touched Charmeleon's rough hide, only to find the creature suddenly shudder, though the heat emanating out of his skin was distinct yet not uncomfortable, like lukewarm water. "We both know that you were good with draconic attacks, and yet…" Ash sighed. "Yet, I gave you the Flamethrower TM, hoping that you would perfect the technique. I guess, a part of me never let go of the fact that you were more draconic than you were a fire-type. Funny, since I always loved the draconic aspects of Charizard than their ability to breathe fire."

Charmeleon looked at him with surprise.

"Yeah, pretty stupid of me, I know." Ash admitted, slowly caressing Charmeleon's rough hide. The pokémon let out a tiny warble at that, completely unlike the rowdy roar he had given out ever since his evolution. For a moment, it was almost like he was back to being a Charmander, and Ash was petting him. Almost unconsciously, he extended out his tongue to lick Ash's hand.

His trainer smiled. "See? Nothing's wrong with you. And besides, now that you accepted you are none less than a dragon, you have this mean look. I mean, the other Charmeleon will be nothing in front of you."

Charmeleon had to admit, that did stroke his draconic pride a little.

"Trust me. What do you think the other Charmeleon would think, seeing you jump all that high in the air, like that? Besides, you do know that your move set is awesome, just like these claws of yours." He slowly extended another hand to touch the claws on the left hand.

Charmeleon flinched, remembering how the very same claw had penetrated Ash's chest, and drawn blood.

"You are thinking about that attack, right?" Ash asked gently. "It's okay. You wouldn't have known that I'd have stepped into your path, but if I didn't… you'd have hurt Cynthia."

Charmeleon growled at the name again.

Ash chuckled. "She knew doing that to me would get you to throw away your stubbornness, Charmeleon. What you were, that was just a mask. Just a cocoon. This," he touched the steel-like claw. "This is your real self. My Charmeleon."

Charmeleon just grunted, speaking nothing.

"No one is now going to call you a baby, you know. Now you are powerful, and can fight battles just like Shelgon, or Rhydon, or Metagross. You are now one of my main battlers. You will battle for me, wouldn't you?"

Charmeleon let out a growl indignantly, as if Ash had just insulted him by even mentioning it. Of course he would.

Ash grinned. "Then just you watch. The other trainers wouldn't even know what hit them, that is… if you start accepting who you are."

Charmeleon looked away.

"Charmeleon," Ash muttered, "you are now a pure dragon, and my mom always tells me to be the best I can be. I want you to be the best you can be. If you are a dragon, I need you to become the best and most powerful dragon ever."

Charmeleon considered the thought.

"Think about it. There is no one like you. Which means, there will be no one as powerful as you. All you need to do is accept it, and start believing that if anyone can do it, than it is you."

The draconic pokémon found him grunting in agreement.

"And that means, you will not attack Cynthia any more. She only wanted to help you, help us—get rid of our stubbornness."

Charmeleon snorted.

"I'm serious. Think what you could learn from that powerful Garchomp."

Thinking about that monstrosity only made Charmeleon angrier.

"Don't be like that." Ash chided. "He's a Champion-level pokémon. If you don't learn from him now, how will you grow powerful? We will train alongside Cynthia's pokémon, and when it is time, we will defeat them."

That, Charmeleon found himself agreeing with. It did sound quite devious.

Ash grinned, before looking outside, before a nasty thought came to him. "Umm… Charmeleon? How are we going to return back?"

* * *

After the horrendous episode of Ethan's death, Haunter had lost herself to mindless craze and bloodthirst, turning herself into something of an anathema, even for ghost-kind. Ghosts were, by nature, hungry predators who literally relished on the fear of their prey. However, the other two Haunter had managed to keep her somewhat… sedated. Over time, with the otherworldly energies concentrating all over the forest, Haunter had matured, losing her barbarian nature, and evolving into a Gengar, ruling over the multitude of ghost-species that abounded the forest over the decades. With the two Haunter as her subservient helpers, Gengar had turned the forest where she had lost everything into a haven for the ghost-kind, with occasional prey coming in, in the form of unsuspecting trainers wanting to catch ghost pokémon for themselves.

That was until Ash Ketchum came along.

Everything had gone to plan. Trevenant were, the defenders, or should one say, the first line of defense (and offense) against the invaders (or prey) depending upon how one looked at it. If the prey was weak, either they managed to run away or succumbed to one of the Trevenant's powers, losing their lives and their souls in the process. It was okay, since being attuned with nature, Trevenant had the ability to harvest the powers of these souls into nourishment for the young Phantump population, aiding in their quick growth. Besides, it wasn't like ghosts needed sustenance for survival anyway. However, should the trainer be extremely lucky, they managed to get themselves a weaker ghost and escape their impending doom before the wrath of Trevenant fell upon them.

That was how it had continued till Ash Ketchum came along.

The young human hadn't captured a weakling. He had gone for the head, and captured Trevenant himself. Gengar had given him full marks for that. It required a strong team, and lot of courage from the human as well, to accomplish that. Gengar had relished at the prospect of devouring the soul of such a courageous individual, but then the nasty void-using feline had challenged her pride in front of everyone.

A battle to the death, upon which the fate of her friends would be decided.

Of course, Gengar had offered them the illusion of a choice that if they returned the Trevenant, they would have a chance to return back. Truth be told, they wouldn't. As soon as the Trevenant would be released, the entire ghost-community would leap upon them, and would have feasted on their souls.

Not that it mattered anyway, though before that, she would have to go through this sham of a battle. Not that she minded. After all, it had been quite some time before someone had come remotely close to giving her a run for her money.

The outcome of the battle had been up to Gengar's expectations, and much more. The feline had not only one-upped her, but had literally smashed her pride into the moist, dense poisonous ground on which the forest existed. Gengar had to, to save her pride, use the ambient powers of the forest to revive herself, though she had never expected the sudden attacks from those… monsters.

That was when she had come across a different side of Ash Ketchum.

The one that cared for his pokémon more than himself. The one that was ready to die if it meant that his pokémon were able to survive. The one that reminded Gengar too much of Ethan than she was comfortable with.

Ash Ketchum and his team of beasts had aided the ghosts to somehow bring about victory against those invaders. It hurt her pride to accept it, but without their aid, the ghost colony would have been decimated overnight.

And even after that, Ash Ketchum had demonstrated magnanimity in victory, by protecting the other ghost (much to Gengar's annoyance) and was okay with giving up Trevenant if it meant that his pokémon w0uld survive.

That was when Gengar had made her decision.

And now she was part of the team. Ash Ketchum's team, fighting together, practicing together with the rest of her team-mates. It felt strangely nostalgic, and yet… Gengar felt freer than she had ever had, all this while in the forest.

She heard the void-using feline grunt at her in indignation, as said feline charged up a somewhat effective Shadow-ball, one that Gengar herself had taught her a while ago. It was almost hilarious to even consider that she had been teaching the Shadow Ball technique to someone that had defeated her in battle. Then again, the feline had agreed to share away with her own technique, the Dark Pulse with Gengar as payment.

She glanced at the _horribly knowledgeable_ all-knowing-one with the silver spoons. The Alakazam had requested her to teach him the ability to use _Curse._ In return, the all-knowing-one would aid her with learning the move _Dream-eater._

As far as all-knowing-ones and void-users were concerned, the ones on the trainer's team at least had _some sense of_ reciprocation.

The Shadow ball, or a half-assed version of it- shot towards Gengar who slapped it away lazily, something that made Absol grunt in annoyance before she began her second attempt at making a stronger version of it. Meanwhile, Gengar couldn't help but wonder about the other ghost in her trainer's team, one who had no idea about what had conspired in the forest after his capture.

Trevenant.

For two days, the elder tree pokémon had undergone treatment, before the trainer had gotten him back with himself, though… Gengar remembered with a mental frown, Trevenant had yet to come out of the pokeball. She had talked to her trainer, al courtesy to the all-knowing-one for translation- about how she wanted to be present when Trevenant came out of the ball for the first time, knowing how terrifyingly angry the elder-tree species became, if caught off-guard. At least, the tree would accept Gengar's presence and bow down to the wishes of the trainer like she had.

At least that was the plan.

And then the untimely evolution of the little lizard had thrown it all in a frenzy.

Gengar looked away towards the forests. Something about the dense canopies gave her a nasty feeling. For the last time, she began to think that perhaps… it would have been better if she would have gone in search for her trainer, who was alone with the newly evolved and angry dragon and….

Gengar winced inwardly.

The Trevenant.

Without another word, Gengar dissipated into the shadows.

* * *

Back inside the forests, the trainer from Pallet and his Charmeleon were slowly trudging their way through the dense shrubbery that littered the forest floor. The ground was almost invisible, covered with a plethora of large boulders, creepers, shrubbery and thorny branches and roots spread out all over. The effects of that Dragon Rush had caused quite an amount of injury to the boy, making it almost impossible to even consider another _'leap into the sky multiple times'_ way of travelling back to the camp. It would definitely have been much faster, and truth be told, Ash could have somehow borne it, but he had thought better. Going down via the mundane way would actually get both of them some time together, and Charmeleon would get some more time to familiarise himself with his new form, before they encountered Cynthia and her Garchomp again. As much as he believed that the newly evolved draconic pokémon would pay heed to his commands, he didn't want to risk it. Besides, Charmeleon weren't really-

 _No. I can't really keep calling him that. He needs a name. A name with which he can associate himself, a unique name for a unique individual._

That was true.

"Hey Charmeleon?"

Said pokémon grunted in acknowledgement, slashing against the shrubbery and branches for the nth time. One thing was certain, by the time they would have descended down to the foothills, he would have absolutely mastered dragon claw to the finest.

"I was wondering if you would like to have a name of your own."

That stopped the draconic creature short, before he grunted back, almost as if wanting more explanation.

"Well, you are the only one of your type in the world, and much more than a Charmeleon. I don't want to… you know, keep calling you Charmeleon to remind you of something that you aren't." Ash paused. "With a new name, you wouldn't have such… issues to deal with."

Charmeleon grunted, though it seemed like indecision more than anything else.

"I was thinking along the lines of… Magnus. It means 'great', and you are going to be a great and powerful dragon in time. I think it would be quite… fitting for someone as prized and strong as you are."

Charmeleon snorted. His trainer did have a way with words, as far as boosting his draconic pride was concerned. With nary but an afterthought, he grunted in agreement.

"Great!" Ash chirped. "Magnus it is."

As if in confirmation, Charmeleon, now Magnus, let out a roar, clearing out the path in front with a burst of draconic energy in the form of a dragon pulse, which cleaved the forest ground, until it hit a rather large and ancient-looking tree, which cracked at the base of its trunk with a groan.

Ash got a nasty feeling that whatever had just happened was going to leave some repercussions. Almost as if in answer, several figures jump down the ancient tree on the ground, jumping their way through the shrubbery as they surrounded Ash and Magnus from all sides. Even in the somewhat dimmed light, Ash could make out the wooden clump-like appendages, and the white mane overflowing from their head.

"Shiftry…." Ash muttered, his danger senses on high alert. After seeing the one that Ritchie had gotten as his prized pokémon, Ash had made it a point to get a detailed look at the species. From what he had found, it was clear that a herd of rogue Shiftry wasn't something to take lightly.

It wasn't something to even consider 'lightly' at all.

The four dark-types circled around Ash and Magnus, growling predatorily as they circled their prey, their appendages glowing with dark energies, as they readied to pounce on their prey.

However, this wasn't the first time that Ash had found himself surrounded by rogue pokémon. The previous experience at the forest had imparted a little amount of knowledge to him, knowledge that he now knew how to wield.

"Listen," he replied in his best-intimidating voice. "We are not here to cause trouble for any of you, or the forest. We were simply returning back to our camp. There is no need for any kind of battling."

The sudden roar from Magnus that accompanied his statement might not have been that helpful, considering he was trying to achieve peace. Then again, the dark pulse fired at him from one of the Shiftry—intercepted by a dragon pulse from Magnus—was a clear indication of that prospect anyway.

Ash cast another glance at the glowing claws on Magnus's arms. "All right, if you want to battle, a battle is what you will get." He remembered Absol's declaration. "Magnus will battle with your leader."

The Shiftry stopped moving, and instead, simply glared at him. Then, they barked at each other and one of four stepped forward to battle Magnus, who gave a roar challengingly.

The Shiftry growled in return before leaping up to one of the nearby trees, and much to its surprise, Magnus leapt off the ground, chasing after it.

"Look at him go." Ash whispered, more to himself than to the others, watching in awe as Magnus kept on jumping from one tree to another, his powerful claws giving him the ability to simply shift his direction and momentum midway as he leapt from one tree to another, firing draconic attacks at the elusive pokémon who seemed to literally vanish its way through the dense canopy of the forest.

A sudden growl attracted Ash's attention, as he looked in horror at the other three Shiftry, who seemed to have returned back to the cognition that Ash was the prey and they were the predators, making him step back gently.

"Uh... guys, my—Magnus is fighting your leader. Doesn't that mean that you will wait till the battle is over?"

The sudden attack of razor leaf that shot past him, tearing a little laceration on his cheek made him drop the idea instantly.

 _Damn. What do I do?_ His fingers automatically went to his belt, where a lone pokeball stood. That when he was reminded that he wasn't, in fact, without pokémon to fight alongside him.

Even if it was Trevenant.

For the first time in his life, Ash Ketchum begun to curse his decision of not releasing Trevenant out when he had the chance.

 _If I release Trevenant, there is a very good chance that Trevenant will fight for me. After all, Gengar did. Either way… what chance do I have? If I do not bring him out, the Shiftry will kill me in a second. I have to take the risk._

Hoping that it would work out for the best, he plucked the pokeball and threw it onto the forest floor, releasing the pokémon within as the ball returned to his hand. Even the Shiftry paused and waited to see the energies that condensed to form the pokémon that stood before them.

Trevenant let out a fearsome roar.

Sensing an otherworldly type, the three Shiftry instantly geared themselves to action, surrounding the Trevenant on all sides, who looked slightly off-guard, what with being found in the middle of a strange forest with wild void-users surrounding him. His instincts shot up, as his eyes glowed blood-red.

And the forest suddenly sprang to life.

* * *

 **Back at the camp.**

"You think that might have been a little too much?" Cynthia asked, preparing a concoction made of several natural ingredients for Ash and his pokémon. She wasn't sure if it would taste well, but the positive effect it would have on them was guaranteed.

And that was all that mattered.

She considered Ash's reaction over the event that had happened. Once again, he hadn't cared about his own life and jumped into the flamethrower's path, narrowly avoiding getting scorched by it to save her. And right after that, despite the fact that she had literally caused him to feel pain (despite her intentions being for the better), he hadn't hesitated to take Charmeleon's attack on himself, using himself as a shield to protect her.

Cynthia flushed a little, feeling unsure about what she felt for him, and what she was supposed to feel for him. Initially it had been an attraction towards a fellow trainer, who regardless of his lack of experience, mimicked her own battling strategy like no other. The fact that he had the allegiance of not just one, but two pseudo-legendaries was simply the icing on the cake.

The next week that she had spent in knowing him had only deepened the attraction she had for him. Defiant, stubborn, a natural tactician and battler, and most importantly, someone who demonstrated a real love for his pokémon beyond the concept of _team._ Also, the fact that she was able to hold a conversation with him (with her anonymity intact) was a bonus.

And then she had revealed her identity as the Sinnoh Champion, and everything had changed.

He hadn't… fell on his knees to try impress her like the others usually did, though she did notice a sort of… amazement and disbelief etched on his face. It was distinctly visible in his eyes, as he wondered why she had chosen to _act friendly (_ Cynthia felt annoyed at remembering it) with him.

And then he had left Metagross, his most powerful pokémon with her so that she wouldn't have to face problems, while he himself went to battle a Rocket Executive. That night, he had saved her life twice, first from that Executive Proton, and next, by summoning the King Dragonite to counter the wrath of Mewtwo. It was largely thanks to that, that she was alive.

Needless to say. Cynthia had been taken with, with the fourteen-year-old. She wouldn't have said that she _loved_ him or anything. But whatever it was, it was true that she did feel strongly for him. Which was why she had chosen to spend her last vacation with him, and no one else.

 _If only Ash would realize that he had been talking to Cynthia, the Champion… and completely ignoring Shirona, his friend._

Cynthia snorted. Somehow, she should have expected such a form of obliviousness from Ash. It was written all over his face, but despite all her attempts, Ash had religiously stuck to treating her like the Champion she was, albeit one he was friendly with, and not someone who was just… just his friend.

She had been immensely annoyed by that.

And then Ash had to go and save her life yet again.

She added another ingredient into the concoction. When Ash would return with that Charmeleon (if it could be called one), then she would have to ensure that he drank the contents. It would increase his body's rejuvenation abilities temporarily.

Her knuckles rubbed against her leg, remembering the way Charmeleon's claw had sunk into Ash's chest, and had drawn out blood.

And yet… and yet, she knew that even after all that the two of them had gone through, Ash would treat her as Cynthia, the Champion, who just happened to be his friend and not Shirona his friend, who just happened to be the Champion.

She looked up. "Garchomp? Do you think it was too much?" She repeated again.

Garchomp simply grunted, not bothering to care too much, turning away as he continued to teach the Shelgon the art of using Draco Meteor. Shelgon was strong, that was a given, but his body anatomy was simply not designed for a battle. However, that was only temporary, because soon the innate metamorphosis would be complete and the pseudo-legendary dragon Salamence would soar out into the sky.

Garchomp loved battling with Salamence. Even the wild ones were damned powerful, and if this Shelgon were to master a couple more moves in time, he would make one nasty Salamence after evolution. Till then, Shelgon would have to stay behind, working only as a long-range attacker, leaving the main fight to the others. Speaking of which…

His draconic senses alerted him, as he stared towards his right, and almost immediately after, a burst of dragon breath shot out of the wild, several miles away from the forests closer to the volcano.

"Guess we know where they are now." Cynthia muttered, staring at the draconic attack that shot out of the forest. Typical Ash! That idiot couldn't stay out of trouble to save his life, she thought, half-annoyed and half-lovingly.

"You think we need to help them get back here?"

Garchomp turned towards his left, watching Ash's Rhydon getting beat up— _pretty badly_ if he were to be honest—by Rhyperior. The overgrown rat of a Lairon had already been bodily picked up and thrown against the rocks multiple times, only for the steel-type to get back up. At least they were diligent, Garchomp mused. He turned towards the forest again, as another burst of draconic energy shot out, past the trees, before letting out a sigh.

He grunted back.

"Do it."

Throwing an apologetic look at the Shelgon, Garchomp extended his fins outward, before pushing himself off the ground, soaring into the sky.

* * *

Ever since his defeat at the hands of the rampaging rock-beast as well as the rest of the human's team, Trevenant had slipped into a comatose state, unaware of the fact that he had undergone treatment during the same interval. As a result, it was completely he finally found a release from his state of suspended animation, Trevenant was a bit…

Angry.

And then he found himself. In a forest. Surrounded by dark types. Attacking him from all sides.

All that anger at being kept in animation inside those hideous devices literally boiled out of him, begging for an outlet for their release. Trevenant gave it one.

The Shiftry.

His eyes glowed blood-red, and the forest instantly rose to life, the branches and tree trunks rising up to meet the Shiftry face-first, slamming into them, and throwing them away. The void-users were relentless, and kept on firing grass-based attacks on them.

Fools! Trevenant thought. Here in the middle of the forest, he was the superlative being. The forest, the woods, the ground, it was all his domain. Challenging him in his own domain was not just a mistake, it was sheer stupidity. Then again, the ruthless void-users were never geniuses to begin with.

He channelled more otherworldly energy out of his own shell, stimulating the forests even more. The Shiftry, it seemed, were pretty quick on their feet, and finding their attacks without effect, had resorted to throwing spheres of concentrated void energy towards him, which were neutralized, almost lazily as tree trunks and large roots kept rising out of the very ground itself to intercept them.

In a matter of minutes, the Shiftry were broken, defeated by the sheer force of the forests themselves, the force that was ruled by Trevenant.

The elder tree pokémon then turned its gaze to the other entity present in his domain.

The human. Precisely, the one that had captured it inside that infernal device and was now standing in front of him, with not a single of his army beside him.

Trevenant smiled.

* * *

Charmeleon, or should one say Magnus, had to agree, the Shiftry was fast. In fact, if not for his ability to leap high up into the sky, and jump off from tree to tree like he found himself able to do, he would be at a loss. Flame-attacks or not, a normal Charmeleon would be able to do jack shit if he had to stand in the centre of this all-encompassing forest with Shiftry able to jump all around and camouflage himself with the surroundings. Those leaf-tornado attacks, while not lethal, would have been pretty dangerous if he had to face them while standing on the ground, amidst all that shrubbery and everything.

 _Perhaps being Magnus had its perks after all._

The draconian creature channelled energy through his claws and his fangs, calculating the distance between himself and his opponent and sent two dragon claw attacks through the air, the slashes of draconic energy lacerating through the trees as Shiftry managed to barely escape it. However, the dragon pulse that had been fired just after the previous attack caught the grass-type off-guard, causing a direct hit. With an agonized whimper, Shiftry lost its footing as it fell downward.

That was all that Magnus needed.

He instantly leapt downward towards the ground, his maw filled with draconic energy as he belched out what was probably the most powerful dragon-breath he had ever managed- slamming it directly into Shiftry's back, almost burning half of the stump that used to be its right arm or something, before tossing away the grass-type as the dragon breath made its way past the trees into the sky.

Magnus smirked. One done, three to go.

That was when he heard an ear-splitting scream, one that he instantly recognized, belonged to his trainer. Sniffing the air, and finding a faint scent, he leapt in the other direction.

It was now official. Someone up there, must really, really hate him.

Completely ignoring the fact that there was a bleeding injury on his chest, and that the bones on his waist were still a little painful from Charm- ahem, Magnus's attack, Ash somehow managed to run his way through the forest, never looking back as he kept on trudging, running, falling down on the forest floor, and continuing all the way all over again.

The terrifying Trevenant seemed to be highly amused with the proceedings, considering that it was having a rather good time playing with his prey. And Ash didn't want him to achieve the satisfaction.

So he ran.

Every now and then, he would find roots come up from the ground, as he lost his balance and fell over them, hurting his knees as he managed to keep on running, yelling out Magnus's name in the wild as he did. For some reason, Magnus was still unavailable. Ash had nearly fallen into an Ariados nest (he couldn't even imagine what would have happened then), as he managed to keep on running. Hopefully, Magnus would be able to find him and stop this-

The thought died midway, as a vine coiled around his left leg, as he fell on the ground, face-first, and another fresh bruise on his left cheek, as blood began to trickle its way out of it. However, the vine was far from having exerted its will on Ash, as it was quickly joined by yet another vine, which coiled around his other legs, before the two of them suddenly contracted, pulling Ash through the forest floor, hauling him through the rough floor, with the thorns on the ground and the large, thick roots that looked like pieces of rock on the floor, hurting his innards every single second.

Ash let out a scream.

Another set of vines caught him from the back and pulled him on top, binding his legs together as he felt himself pulled up, hanging upside-d0wn as the terrifying Trevenant simply stared at him predatorily. Then, the elder tree pokémon extended his hands outwards, creating the same ghostly fire that Gengar had used—will-o-wisp, aiming it towards Ash, before he let it out, growling at Ash with extreme prejudice.

Thus, when the will-o-wisp was suddenly intercepted midway by a shadow ball, and then the _Queen_ Gengar suddenly materialized in front of him and the human, it was quite… natural that Trevenant was not pleased.

Furthermore, two slashes of draconic energy tore their way through the vines, realising the human who fell unceremoniously on the floor—or would have fallen, if not for the strange, black draconic creature who got to him midway and moderated the landing. Said creature, then raised his powerful claws and sent two slashes of draconic energy towards Trevenant, who simply raised two roots from the grounds to protect himself lazily. Dragon or not, this was a forest. Trevenant's domain. Inside this ground, he was unchallenged.

Seeing the Queen Gengar in front had been a surprise, but from the looks of it, it seemed like even the mighty Queen had fallen to the human's army, and now they had all come to protect the human from his wrath.

 _Despicable. To fight one's own protector to save someone who caused so much destruction at the forest._

Trevenant reached a decision, as his eyes burned with a deathly glow, as hundreds of branches, roots, and vines rose up to annihilate the opponents that stood before him.

* * *

 **AN: Ending with a cliff-hanger. Yeah, I'm evil! Anyway, what do you think of the hybrid Charmeleon, i.e. Magnus?**

 **Also, it is time to answer the reviews as well. So, let's get started…**

 **What happened to Hoothoot? It sped away to save his life, when Absol was fighting against Gengar. Ash and company never saw it again. Yeah, 400 bucks gone down the gutter.**

 **Pokémon list on my profile? Hmmm… tell you what? Maybe after I'm done with the present Hoenn Arc, I will write up an independent stat-chapter for that separately. No point dirtying the profile. Okay bud?**

 **Crimson-wyvern, I am glad you understood my hint. I was really wanting someone, anyone to notice it. As for the Champions ribbing Ash, it must also be noted that NO ROOKIE ever goes to Champions asking for training. The situation between Steven and Ash or Cynthia and Ash is a completely unique one. Besides, with Mewtwo's threat hanging on Ash's head like some kind of Damocles blade, it is quite natural that Steven would be more… stern when it comes to Ash. It is all done to make him a better trainer, and save his life after all.**

 **Bill and Oak's conversation is hard to categorize? The 'know-enough' will come in steps. Throwing away the little pieces in wait for a larger, solid piece is only going to delay its comprehension, not hasten it.**

 **Yeah, truth be told. I had initially thought that the entire Indigo arc would be over in 400k words, which at this moment, now seems to grow with every passing chapter. For God's sake, Ash isn't even in Saffron or Lavender or Celadon yet. Either way, I have planned till the Shamouti prophecy part. As for your other question, yes, the other lands will be included, though not in the way you might expect it to be.**

 **Never battle with Poliwhirl? Please re-read the St. Anne tournament.**

* * *

 **And now the final one by Thor94. No offence buddy, but with all due respect, I think you are being extremely short-sighted here.**

 **One. Misty didn't train POLIWRATH. She simply taught Poliwag ONE move- Water pulse. The rest of them, and after evolution to Poliwhirl-all of that was trained by Ash.  
Two. Gyarados. Misty helped Ash evolve Magikarp into Gyarados. If you notice, both Steven and Cynthia state that Gyarados knows only 3 moves (which btw, are moves that it naturally knows). Notice here, Misty didn't train Gyarados either.**

 **Three. Absol was NOT TRAINED by anyone. She was taken from the Safari. The only thing given about Absol is that she is fully evolved and powerful. NOWHERE is it stated that the rangers or the league trained her. Even during the Forest chapter, Absol's POV states how she usually fought the rock types on the mountains in the safari.**

 **Four. Metagross. I will agree that Steven has taken him to train for maybe a couple of weeks. Does that nullify all his training as a Metang? Or the practice and the battling he did beside Ash? Is three weeks with a champion pokémon ENOUGH to train a pokémon like Metagross to his absolute best?**

 **Five. Pidgeotto was forcefully evolved into Mega Pidgeot by Mewtwo. I agree. But what she got was an increase in power than she would get as a normal Pidgeot. Does that however, nullify all the training she underwent as a Pidgeotto? What happened to twister, aerial ace, steel wing and all of those moves she learnt because of training with Ash?**

 **Six and last. I will repeat, he is NOT being trained by Cynthia. She is simply giving him some pointers and helping teach his team some moves to get them better overall. That does not, in any way, imply that she has taken over the teaching department instead of Ash for his team.**

 **Bottom line. This ain't canon Ash, buddy.**


	20. Complexities

It is a funny thing really. Just ask any random kid out there, within the ages six and fourteen, and ask him or her, what they wanted to become when they grew up. You'd get a common answer.

A Pokémon Master.

A term that every single child knew to heart, and for most, it was a dream to pursue for the rest of their lives. The funny thing was, one never really know what being a _Pokémon Master_ was really about. For one thing, around eighty-five percent of the population that began their dreams as an aspiring Pokémon master ended up surviving their first year as a trainer. The rest… became part of a statistical chart that everyone pretended _did not exist-_ the harsh truth of the occupation that was becoming a Pokémon trainer.

They forgot to tell you that. Didn't they? Well, pay attention.

Let us exclude the legendaries at first. For one, most people simply consider them as myth, and if not, then a thing of the past. A mix of religious belief and mythology. For those who did, even the very thought of being able to _see_ a Legendary was like seeing God, since for all intents and purposes, a Legendary was after a fashion, a conceptualization of a particular component of Nature. For instance, Moltres, the mythical King of fire. The word _King,_ it must be noted, was not differentiated by gender, but by position, and as far as the conceptualization of _Fire_ was concerned, Moltres was Fire-personified.

That left the two other kinds of pokémon—the ones who were pseudo-legendaries and the ones who weren't. The latter usually, were divided into two kinds- those who were naturally powerful and those who weren't. Often, it was found that a trainer would go searching for powerful pokémon, like a Gyarados for instance, and end up getting killed in the process. In fact, according to statistics, Gyarados, Magmar, Beedril, Charizard and Fearow were the reasons for deaths for more than seventy percent of the total deaths registered every single year, the count of which, usually ended up somewhere in the greater seventies.

Those who survived their first year as a trainer, usually ended up reaching the Leagues and battling their way through, some even reaching as high as the Top-32 before a stronger trainer shattered their dreams to achieve their own. The process continued for the next year and the next until one of four things happened.

First case. The trainer would end up winning a League, and then become a part of the Ace Squad.

Second. The trainer would reach a zenith as a Top-4 level trainer, and then private organizations (or sometimes the league) would consider them for their forces, most preferably the Ranger Squad.

Third. The trainer would probably choose one of the secondary professions out there, like the pokémon contests or showcases and the like. Considering the large number of failures, it is no surprise that the showcases and contests have grown in popularity over the recent years.

The fourth and the last. They would leave the profession as a trainer and settle for something else. Maybe work for other companies, or get self-employed in fields unrelated to pokémon training. Usually the dairy-farming industry employed hundreds of such trainers.

Needless to say, with such high rates of personal threat and professional failure, the Leagues have had to up their game, and give more reasons for people to try for the League as a trainer. And the reason they chose is the best possible one.

Money. And lots of it. The Ace Teams are paid in numbers that most people can't even dream of. In fact, in the recent decades, the League introduced the idea of _Gym leaders_ paying the trainers a certain sum of money (advancement) should they manage to defeat the Gym leader. All of that, done to ensure that the greed for greater incomes should achieve victory over the general fear that came to be associated with the life of a _wannabe Pokémon Master._

* * *

Ash Ketchum stared with growing horror, as the entire forest in front of him rose to life, with the very source of such an aberration staring at him, his eyes glowing with a deadly red color. His new jacket was now tattered and torn at various places, as were his trousers. His skin was bruised at various places, the injuries and bruises burning, causing him immense discomfort though to be frank, nothing registered to his mind than the most significant threat in front of him.

The terrifying Trevenant.

Yet, at the same time, another thought seeped through the cracks as it flit though his mind. A realization… of sorts.

 _This is the third time that I have found my life hanging at the whims of a wild pokémon._

He looked ahead at what seemed to be a rather heated conversation between the Gengar and the elder tree pokémon, in which, he believed that the shadow pokémon was, in all probability, trying to convince the elder tree that killing Ash was a bad idea. Though looking at the Trevenant's reactions, she wasn't doing a great job at it. Then again, with the way Magnus was one step away from driving his shiny claws through the elder tree's trunk, chopping it into pieces in a single stroke… there might be some reason behind Trevenant's reactions after all.

A part of his mind couldn't help but wonder how _Gengar_ of all pokémon managed to even find out where Ash was, considering that Alakazam had been rather… _courteous_ enough to put psychic shields all over the camp, creating individual training grounds for the pokémon. He knew for a fact that Gyarados and Poliwhirl had joined Milotic far away into the sea for them to train without any interference.

 _Must have something to do with being a ghost and everything._ He mused.

Only if there was a way to teleport away, but even then, doing so would mean losing to Trevenant. Only if he had a psychic to aid him at this time…. Metagross was away, which left a single option.

 _I never thought a day would come when I would miss having Kadabra—Alakazam at my side._

The attempt at peaceful diplomacy, it seemed, had been doomed to failure, as the elder tree roared, and sent a dozen roots and branches, flinging towards Ash and company. Gengar, being a ghost-type, had nothing to fear from such physical attacks. The same could be said about the rest, and Magnus was completely engrossed in slashing the incoming barrage with his powerful claws, making sure none went past him to strike at his trainer. Gengar meanwhile, fired a quick succession of Shadow balls towards the Trevenant who simply raised several trunks to absorb the attack midway, much to the shadow pokémon's rage.

Meanwhile, the continuous destruction in the forest zone had attracted some more unwanted attention. Despite the situation, neither Ash nor his team failed to notice how several Ariados had been gathering all around them, and considering that Trevenant were literally _protectors of forests,_ the natives would, in all possibility, support him rather than Ash and his team, which included a dragon of all things. The four Shiftry also seemed to have caught up and were nearing them from the other sides.

Bottom line. They were in a kill-box. Come to die.

Gengar let out a wild screech before blasting the Ariados away with a powerful Will-o-wisp while Magnus sent successive dragon pulses towards Trevenant, hoping to overwhelm it with the draconic attacks. Back then with the Shiftry, it had been different, since he had the advantage of being able to move. With Ash behind him, Magnus had to stay stationary and keep deflecting attacks from all sides, which included both Shiftry as well as Trevenant.

Gengar's eyes glowed with eldritch power as she summoned otherworldly energy around herself, casting ominous shadows all over the forest, making full advantage of the canopy, as she suddenly dissipated within the shadows, only to suddenly reappear at random places to propel ghostly spheres towards Trevenant. The fact that barely a single one managed to reach the elder tree was testament to the superlative control it held over the domain that was the forest. Magnus meanwhile, had fired up several dragon pulses from his vantage point, doing his level best to hit the Shiftry, and if not, then at least clear the area, make it devoid of the tree trunks and roots that Trevenant could use as weapons.

That was when something extraordinary happened.

A powerful gust of wind bulldozed its way through the forest as several spheres of draconic energy rained down from the heavens, falling on the Shiftry and the Ariados, literally _deleting_ them from the equation in a single strike. The next volley of those spheres— _Draco Meteor,_ Ash realized, fell with Trevenant as their target. No amount of natural shields that the elder tree pokémon seemed to put up seemed to hold before the might of what was possibly one of the most powerful attacks of dragon-kind.

When the dust faded, Ash could see Garchomp— _Cynthia's Garchomp-_ standing right beside him, one of his fins spread in front of him protectively, while the rest of the battlefield looked like a horde of rampaging Rhyhorn had bulldozed their way through the zone. Gengar and Magnus, it seemed, had not been still and taken full advantage of the situation, as standing before him, was Trevenant, with a pitch-black Shadow claw through its neck, and another bright dragon claw—this one from Magnus, through its trunk. The elder tree was groaning in agony.

Garchomp grunted, glancing at Ash before indicating towards the elder tree pokémon.

 _Oh._ Ash realized. In the scheme of things, he had absolutely forgotten that he still had Trevenant's pokeball with him. After releasing him to fight the Shiftry, he had placed the pokeball back in his belt, and the events afterward had literally washed out the idea of returning him from his mind. Then again, there was every chance that someone as powerful as Trevenant would simply evade capture and kill him during the attempt.

He lifted the pokeball up.

Trevenant let out another defiant roar, before screaming, as Gengar's shadow claw sliced deeper into its throat, the wood cracking under the effect of the otherworldly energies.

Ash clicked the button, as a beam of red shot towards the elder tree, sucking it inside.

Ash's knees gave away as they nearly hit the floor, though Garchomp had other ideas, as he held Ash up in his arms, and grunted back towards Gengar and Magnus.

After a couple of seconds of staring back, Magnus grunted back.

Holding Ash up, Garchomp shot off the ground, flying high up past the thick canopy, aiming for the camp, while Gengar and Magnus swiftly followed.

* * *

 **Some hours later.**

Ash Ketchum woke up from a troubled sleep, the contusions on his cheeks and abdomen feeling suspiciously benign, almost as if the entire pain had vanished. A little more widening of his eyes got him staring at the somewhat unfamiliar green tent all around him, followed by the realization that he was, once again, wrapped up in bandages all over, though this time, it seemed to be limited to his chest-region and on his trousers, though there were a couple of band aids on either cheek to cover up the bruises as well.

 _Crap. Not again._

He turned towards his side to see a wide assortment of potion jars, leaves and berries on the makeshift wooden platform, with several bowls and pestles on it as well. Someone had not only bandaged him, but also treated him back to health. He was just entertaining that line of thought when the covers of the tent on the left were lifted up, and Cynthia stepped in.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, her countenance filled with concern.

"I'll survive." Ash returned. A part of him couldn't help but feel slightly… annoyed at the way Cynthia had treated both him and Charmander back then. Of course, he hadn't hesitated to protect her at the cost of his own life, but that didn't mean that he wasn't annoyed by her actions. Whatever her intentions had been, she had been quite cruel to Charmander, and a slight miss from Ash's position could have cost her, her own life.

"Garchomp told me how you were attacked by the Trevenant and the Shiftry." Cynthia muttered, sitting on the floor beside Ash to prepare some antidotes for him. "The injuries you had, it was…"

"As you predicted?" Ash interrupted.

"I was going to say _horrible._ I never expected that to happen." She scowled.

"I seem to remember telling you not to do that." Ash grunted back, before looking away. "Your treatment towards Charmander was… wrong."

Cynthia looked up, but didn't retort back. "I didn't expect him to attack me like that. It was simply a way to get him to shed his fear of-"

"He did." Ash interrupted again. "I'm not questioning your intentions, _Cynthia."_ -said girl inwardly gasped at the cold tone her friend was using—"I'm simply questioning the execution of it all. Your Garchomp, he could have killed Charmander."

"He didn't."

"Doesn't matter. Charmander could have died out of excess usage of his inner-flame."

"He wouldn't." Cynthia challenged.

"And how do you know that?"

Cynthia was now losing it. "Because I have trained a Charizard from a Charmander too. Just so you know, as you keep pointing it out, I am _The Sinnoh Champion,_ and that means I have a lot of experience under my belt, which includes training the Charmander species. Their tail flame wouldn't go off just out of over-usage of fire-type attacks, or throwing them into a water body."

"But-"

"Unless you plan to poison Charmander and then keep him frozen with continuous ice-beams on his body for hours, he is not going to die because of his tail-flame going off."

Ash opened his mouth to retort, but then looked away. Of course, as a Champion, Cynthia probably knew more about training pokémon than him ten times over. But in his heart, he still felt that Magnus was with him the longest, he knew him the best. And risking him was not an option. But Cynthia was also his friend, wasn't she? And he valued his friend's opinions greatly. But choosing one among them was not something he wanted to do. Not now. Not ever.

 _But does that make her blameless?_

Silence pervaded between the two for minutes.

"Ash?"

No reply came to the question.

"I really am sorry for whatever happened."

Still no reply.

Cynthia looked away, silently working on the antidote she was preparing. "You should ingest this concoction. It will treat your injuries faster. I'll… I'll be outside, training your pokémon."

She waited for a couple of seconds, before she decided that she wouldn't be receiving any reply, and got up to get out of the tent. She had just crossed the threshold when Ash began speaking.

"You know… Magnus thought himself as a monster. He believed himself responsible for my injury and blamed himself and his evolution. It took me a long time to convince him that your intentions were for his own betterment, and that it was just a part of his growing up."

Cynthia turned around, only for her hopes to fall to dust again. Ash hadn't turned back, but that hadn't stopped him from replying.

"When I found him as a Charmander back then, he was there, sitting on the rock on Route 24, his tail flame flickering dangerously, with a single leaf over him, in the middle of a thunderstorm. A flock of Spearow were attacking him from all sides, tearing into his flesh, and yet, he did nothing." Ash paused. "Me and Metang got rid of the Spearow, and tried to bring him down from the rock. Charmander fought us. Do you know why?"

He turned around to face her. "Because his trainer told him that he would be back with medical supplies to treat him. The same trainer, who had simply treated with callously all the time he had been with him, and then deserted him in the middle of nowhere… just like that."

Cynthia simply stood like a statue, not sure what to say.

"I had to ask Metang to use confusion to get him down. He somehow managed to somehow stick through and survive the night."

"I—I didn't-"

"Of course you didn't." Ash replied in an emotionless tone. "When Charmander finally gave himself a chance with me as his trainer… he was so scared. He thought that I'd discover how… _weak_ , he was, and desert him. That I'd call him useless and dump him in the middle of nowhere like Damien did. Of course… I never made him feel that he was any different than any other Charmander, and tried to give him a feeling of normalcy."

He paused, looking squarely at her face. "Maybe that was… wrong. Maybe I was being over-protective with him, and maybe you are right. However… that doesn't justify your behaviour with him. You may have had experiences with raising a Charizard, but your Charizard wasn't Magnus."

Cynthia opened her mouth, but no words came.

Ash looked away. "Maybe I am being incredibly naïve. I wouldn't know if I was. I'm not an experienced trainer, or even an Ace… and certainly not someone of your own position and power, but… I do know my own pokémon better than you, or Steven or anyone else in the world can." He paused. "I didn't send Metagross with Steven because I needed a pokémon trained by a Champion. I did it because Metang sacrificed something for me back on the ship, and this was a way of giving him back the opportunity to get it back."

"Ash, I-"

But Ash wasn't done speaking. "The same holds for you. I know that I saved your life back at the ship, and sometime… anyway, what I want to say is, I didn't do it because you are a Champion and I need something in return. When I tried to help you on the ship, it was because you were my friend, and a Champion… someone far more important than myself to the world. I didn't do it with any reciprocation in mind."

"Ash-"

"The same is true for now as well. I took the attack head-on because you were my friend. Because I knew that your intentions were for Charmander's own good. Because I…." He paused, unsure of what to say.

"I know that." Cynthia muttered, her voice low.

"I didn't do it for any kind of reciprocation. All this…" He pointed towards the bandages all over himself. "I am grateful that you treated me and healed me, but trust me, if you try to do something like that…. one more time? I won't care that you are a Champion, or what monsters are part of your team." He paused. "You and I… will come to blows."

Cynthia looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock. But Ash had already turned away.

"I'm sorry for my weakness and my frail self. I will be ready for whatever instruction you have for me and my team come early morning."

The Sinnoh Champion did her utmost to hold back the lone tear that threatened to fall off her left eye, as she turned around and sped away.

* * *

He opened his eyes, staring at the darkness on top of him. From the way it seemed, night had descended down upon the island, and it was pretty close to midnight. Even from his bed, he could make out the snores outside- his and Cynthia's pokémon, Ash mused, as he lay upon the makeshift bed made out of the sleeping bag. There was a single lantern burning at a distance, the shadows creating a rather eerie effect on the green canvas on the tent.

After Cynthia had walked out of the tent, he had drunk the concoction (which tasted terrible), and had passed off within minutes of doing so as the medicine kicked in. This was the first time he had woken up after that.

He casually wondered what Gengar was doing. The ghost pokémon literally lived in the shadows after all. Thoughts about his pokémon reminded him of Magnus… and Metagross. Silently, still in his bed, he wondered what kind of grilling training Metagross might be going through all this while. That reminded him-

A sight literally vanished the thought from his mind, as the shadowy figure of a sleeping Cynthia came into view. There she was, a little distance away from himself, sleeping in her sleeping bag, her lips having a disturbed frown. Ash decided that he didn't like that expression on her.

He pushed himself up from the bed, and doing his best to avoid making any noises, he slowly stood up, feeling the lack of pain in his muscles. Even the bruises seemed to have cooled down, as far as the stinging was concerned.

 _Some concoction that was._

He slowly paced out of the tent, doing his best not to disturb any of the pokémon sleeping within. The wild grass underneath felt wonderful. He should get himself a habit of doing this a little more often, he decided. A couple of yards away, the grassland ended prematurely into a tiny cliff with the waters of the sea touching the edges.

Something shifted behind him.

He didn't move. Call it his sixth sense, but he instinctively knew what it was.

"I thought you'd be awake. Shadows and everything."

A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness to his right, followed by a large grinning face as Gengar materialized into view.

Ash didn't bother to look. "I'm really glad that you decided to join us, and really thankful for helping me out back there."

Gengar simply grinned.

"I've been… wondering you know… if the tale about the trainer from Kanto and the three Haunter… I mean, was he really your trainer?"

Something about Gengar… shifted.

"I'm sorry…" Ash apologised. "I didn't want to remind you of bad memories or anything. It was… I'm sorry."

Gengar however… had another plans in mind. All of a sudden, Ash felt a wave of psychic energy flood beside him, as Alakazam appeared to his left.

 _ **Midget… you just had to interrupt my sleep, didn't you?**_

Ash chuckled. "Sorry for that. I think Gengar wanted a conversation."

 _ **And now you can relate to the otherworldly ones. Is there any end to your shortcomings?**_

The trainer scowled in mock-anger.

 _ **It is good to see you in health, midget.**_

"Thank… you." Ash replied slowly. "I never said it, but thank you for saving my life back there in the forest."

 _ **Delia would be unhappy.**_

Ash didn't counter that statement, as he turned towards Gengar. "What did you want to talk about?"

The Gengar grinned again, before drawling away in her own tongue.

 _ **She says that your hypothesis about her origins, though presumptuous, are quite correct.**_

"It must have been… difficult." Ash replied after a while. "Fighting your own people… to save me."

The grin on the ghost' countenance deepened.

 _ **The otherworldly one says that the trees had a symbiotic relationship going on with the other ghosts. She says that she wasn't able to communicate the details of the aftermath of his capture to the tree.**_

"Oh." Ash muttered. "Do you think that Trevenant would listen to you?"

The Gengar's grin deepened again.

 _ **If he understands self-preservation.**_ Alakazam communicated.

Ash swallowed. "Remind me never to be on your bad side."

 _ **You already have, midget. You just managed to slide over to the better one.**_

He ignored Alakazam's taunt. "Was the day productive for you guys? I'm sorry… I was not in the best of health."

Gengar decided that her trainer had no shortcomings when it came to understatements. However, it was the psychic that answered.

 _ **Irrespective of your failings, the void-using feline managed to learn the process of procuring a shadow ball from the otherworldly one. I believe I am yet to teach her the technique of Magic Coat.**_

"Somehow the fact that you have gotten yourself a professor job doesn't surprise me." Ash teased. If he hadn't known better, he would have said that he had just seen Alakazam huff.

 _ **Reciprocation, midget. I'm not sure if the concept eludes you, but teaching a technique is often a means of reciprocation amongst pokémon. I'm teaching the art of Dream-eating to the otherworldly one… and in return, she will be imparting me the knowledge of Cursing.**_

"And Absol?"

 _ **The feline will be teaching me the art of Double-teaming, while the otherworldly one shall receive the art of Dark Pulse from her. Personally, I'd have liked to learn it as well, but I'm afraid I do not have sufficient ways to reply her back in kind.**_

Ash chortled. "I'm sure that the feline- Absol will be happy to teach you if you just requested."

 _ **And be indebted to a void-user? Oh, the shame.**_

The trainer rolled his eyes, staring at the moon in the sky. "What about the others?"

 _ **The mindless beast and his kin managed to get beaten up all day. I believe they find it enthralling and educational.**_

"Physical moves are like that."

 _ **As I said, mindless. The baby dragon managed to progress with those little meteors. Your starter has no regard for lawn maintenance. Please keep him away from my garden.**_

Ash rolled his eyes. He'd miss these quips after Alakazam was back at the lab with his mother. Turning towards the ghost, he replied. "I guess I'll be good enough to aid in your training from tomorrow onwards. And we can have another try at Trevenant."

Gengar's eyes pulsed.

Ash looked away. "We need to get stronger. You, me, all of us… there is a lot coming up, and I can feel it. Practicing for the league and gym battles isn't going to be enough. I was thinking…. I was thinking that we should continue for a while longer over here, and make sure we all are ready before we head towards Kanto."

Gengar looked at him in surprise.

"Oh yeah," Ash chuckled. "I suppose you didn't know that. I'm from Kanto as well. Pallet Town. Do you know that place?"

Gengar drawled out in agreement.

"Are you… from Kanto as well?"

The shadow pokémon's eyes flashed as a dull image of a town manifested before Ash's eyes. It was almost like watching the memory back on St. Anne, only this one, was more like looking into it through a dusty glass. He could see cobbled streets, the pointy tops of the houses and the somewhat plebeian landscape all around. And there, in the center, stood a humongous edifice, an ancient manor that looked more ancient than it had a right to be, with seven gargoyles sculpted on the vertices, with a single Haunter sculpted on the top. A manor that was easily recognizable to anyone who had studied Kanto's history.

The _Tower_ of Lavender Town.

"You…" Ash drew breath, realizing that he had been unconsciously holding it all this while, "-are from the Tower? From Lavender Town?"

Gengar grinned.

Ash chuckled uneasily. The Lavender Town tower was a haven for ghost-types, which were under the protection of the ancient Ainsworth family. The Ainsworths, always had an uncanny relationship with ghost-types, and produced most of the ghost-masters over the last centuries. As of now, the Tower was home to one of the most feared trainers of the world.

Agatha Ainsworth. Ghost-type mistress, and member of the Kanto Elite Four.

"So…. Your trainer captured you?"

 _ **I believe the otherworldly one was…. his starter.**_

Ash's eyes lit with recognition. "He was…. an Ainsworth?"

Gengar's eyes lit up.

Ash swallowed. A part of him couldn't help but wonder if the Ainsworth family even knew of what happened to the young trainer who had left Kanto all those years ago. Maybe Professor Oak would know something about it. The old man was a bottomless reservoir of knowledge, as far as Ash was concerned.

"We'll… go to Lavender Town after I return to Pallet." He replied. "You can meet your own family then."

For some reason, Gengar's eyes pulsed, as she dissipated into the shadows, leaving Ash alone with Alakazam.

"I suppose that was the end of the conversation." Ash muttered to himself.

 _ **Otherworldly ones are beyond our scope of comprehension.**_

Ash didn't refute the statement. No more words were exchanged that night.

* * *

After an early breakfast next morning, Ash and his team were ready for their training for the day to begin. Neither Ash nor Cynthia had touched the topic of the previous day, behaving as if nothing of worth noting had happened. Though, Cynthia's enthusiasm had been replaced by the tactical battler that was the Sinnoh Champion.

"Magnus, because of his genetic constitution, has the ability to learn Draco Meteor. However, because of his recent genetic shift, it will be more… advisable to have him get a little more acquainted with his skills before we start his training."

Ash nodded, and released Magnus, who let out a snort, seeing the Garchomp standing in front of him.

"The first exercise will be to work on his speed and physical attacks." Cynthia pronounced. "With his build and his proclivity towards quick attacks, he could become a good physical fighter in time."

Magnus snorted at that.

"Both of you," she directed her gaze at Garchomp and Magnus, "will be battling each other with only dragon claw. Use your speed and physical strength, and nothing else. The entire island and the sea is your battlefield. Let's see how it turns up after the next two hours or so."

The two dragons stared at each other, with Magnus letting out a challenging growl while Garchomp had a sort of laid-back attitude.

"Scram."

In a couple of seconds, Garchomp and Magnus were nothing more than a blur in the air, instantly leaping off from their positions as they raced towards the other side of the island, their sharp claws striking each other again and again as they hit, shot back, and changed tracks, all at fantastic speeds.

"If this is Magnus without training," Cynthia observed, "then I really pity his opponent when he becomes a Charizard."

"What do you mean?" Ash queried.

"Charizards are specifically notorious for their immense strength and their ability to do so while flying, but their speed and flexibility is sacrificed at the altar of their overwhelming strength. Magnus on the other hand… he is much more nimble than anything I've ever seen. I could expect such nimbleness from a Gabite or a Garchomp, but not from a Charizard. Once Magnus learns to use his bulk to fuel his momentum alongside his speed, he will be one tough battler."

"I… hope it turns out that way." Ash muttered, more to himself than to others. "I just want him to be the best that he can be."

Cynthia spared a glance at him, before looking away. "He will. If you manage to keep him undergo constant training, very soon he should be able to substitute as a fighting-type pokémon. I notice you do not have any of those on your team."

Ash hesitated for a moment. "Well, Poliwhirl will evolve into-"

"Poliwrath, a fighting-type. I know that. However, you could have done well with having another fighting-type in your team as well. They are good for physical battling, especially if you are looking to train against the ground-type ones, which I see are plenty."

She cast a cursory glance towards Rhydon who was constantly trying to learn mega horn, all the while attacking Rhyperior with it, and having to bear with the constant pounding that the fully evolved pokémon was giving him. Beside them, the Lairon was constantly using slamming his feet onto the rocky ground, trying to perfect the Rock Tomb technique.

"Your team has certain limitations as of the moment, Ash. You lack fire-types for one. Your Shelgon, upon evolution, would be a formidable dragon for sure, but that doesn't, in any fashion, counter the presence of a true fire-type."

"I… understand." Ash nodded. "I will think upon it."

Cynthia nodded. "Your team has an overwhelming number of dragon, rock and ghost-types. I'm sure you have noticed?"

Ash rolled his eyes at the rhetorical question.

"Dragons are the superlative-type, with access to all but most fairy-type moves. With proper training, your dragon-types can easily substitute for any other types. Take Magnus for instance. With proper training, he can easily substitute for a fighting-type, or even a ground-type, should he master some of the attacks I have thought of. After his final evolution, he can function as a flying-type if needed be."

Ash nodded.

"The same holds true for your Shelgon, after his evolution to Salamence. Though…" she drawled, "Salamence would do better as a long-ranged versatile fighter, instead of close-combat like Magnus." She paused. "Gyarados has the advantage of water, and dragon. However, they can be used for one more purpose—shifting the environment."

Ash raised his eyebrows. "Like?"

Cynthia smirked. "What do you think you did with your battle against Harrison's Houndoom?"

"That was because it was an ice-platform."

"Use the thing between your ears." Cynthia mocked. "You will know how to use Gyarados to shift other environments as well."

Ash scowled but didn't retort.

"Your ghosts," she paused. "To my knowledge, you have a total of three, though only a single one is available as of now. I'd advise to get all three working under your complete commands. A ghost is a pretty powerful opponent against most. For one, I was pretty impressed with what you did with Steven that day."

"It was just a one-trick pony." Ash muttered.

"That may be, but it did work, didn't it? A ghost isn't a physical battler or one with immense strength. You have dragons and ground-types for those. A ghost works with trickery, subtlety and deviousness."

"You mean like destiny bond?" Ash challenged.

"I understand why the concept of destiny bond might seem unfair to you, but that is with the ghost-types. Subtle changing of the real world is their element. Unless you accept it, you will never go far with ghost-types."

"But what does it tell about me as a trainer if I use trickery to win a match?"

"That you are an efficient ghost-type trainer." Cynthia retorted. "I'm quite sure that if you asked the right people, they would all agree that in a direct battle, Agatha would probably wipe the floor with Lance."

"Because she fights dirty?"

"Exactly."

Ash didn't answer. His mind was too engulfed with his own thoughts, both accepting and contradictory ones. "I'll… look into that as well."

"See that you do. That Trevenant of yours… it will be a nightmare if the ground is a grass-type for instance."

"Controlling the environment." Ash realized.

Cynthia's lips twisted into a grin. "Your Poliwhirl… while I'm sure that he might be ready to evolve in a month or so, make sure to get him to maximum versatility before that happens. Water-types are like that. A highly versatile water/fighting-type is one difficult opponent to battle."

Ash sent a momentary glance towards Poliwhirl, who was at the moment, doing his best to try smacking a bullet punch at Medicham, while at the same time, doing his best to avoid Medicham's own attacks.

"And you don't have an electric-type, which is somewhat surprising."

Ash looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I did capture a Magneton, but I traded it with Lairon on the cruise."

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "While I won't disagree that Lairon's evolved form Aggron is deadly in battle, you already have quite a lot of physical might on the team. Metagross, Rhydon—or should I say Rhyperior, and of course the dragons. For a team like yours, Magneton or its evolutions would have been a more versatile option."

"I could always teach Thunderbolt via TM. I checked it. A majority of my team can learn Thunderbolt via TM."

"I'm not disagreeing, Ash." The Sinnoh Champion countered. "But thunderbolt isn't the only reason one seeks an electric-type. They are good for both close-combat battles as well as long-ranged support. In fact, you could look into the Elekid-line. Electabuzz in general, would be a good one for your team. That, or perhaps one with speed. Jolteon would be the top preference, if not for its rarity, but there's always the Pikachu-line in Kanto, if you want a little close-to-home."

Ash was growing distinctively uncomfortable with it.

"You seem uncomfortable." Cynthia noted.

"Uh… no, it's nothing. Just reminded me of something, that's all."

Cynthia felt an overwhelming urge to touch his palm but she refrained from it. "All right. "You have a psychic-type in Metagross. High offense matched with high defense. There is a reason why Metagross is regarded as one of the most powerful ones out there."

Ash nodded.

Cynthia felt irritation surge through her at Ash's somewhat subdued behaviour. His original self, back at the cruise was much more comfortable to work with. "Tell me Ash, what exactly are your own plans for your pokémon?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, what exactly are your plans for the future?"

"I…" Ash began in a thoughtful tone. "I was hoping that, after I'm done winning the eight badges, I'd get myself some training… maybe on Mount Ember or someplace like this one, where I can train without a care in the world, and then… challenge the gym leaders once again, battle their original teams."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "That's ambitious. The gym leaders are chosen for their power and skill. Each and every gym leader is someone who is close to an Ace-level trainer, if not one. And then there is Sabrina and Koga, who are both Elite Four members. Winning against their standard teams is a difficult job. Winning against their original teams is… a laughable attempt for most."

"I cannot do with being part of 'most'," Ash muttered. "Whether I want or not, Mewtwo is coming for me after a year is over. Measuring myself to League standards isn't a luxury I can afford."

Cynthia frowned. "You do know right that when the time comes, you can always count on me to aid you?"

"I know, but I won't. It was me who challenged him, and if I fail, it will be me that suffers. Not anyone else." He looked up at her squarely in the eye. "Especially not you."

Cynthia widened her eyes, as her lips parted a little, before she composed herself. "Ash, you do not have exclusive copyrights to battling Mewtwo."

"I don't. But the battle we are talking about, that's exclusive to me."

Cynthia opened her mouth to retort back, but no words were enough to describe the whirlpool of emotions in her mind.

* * *

Five days had passed after that, and every single day had been the same as the previous one. After an early morning breakfast prepared jointly by Ash and Cynthia, the two would start with their training regimen. Until noon, it would be his pokémon clashing against Cynthia's, and at times, with each other as well. Then they would all get freshened up and get a hefty lunch, and with all their excitement gone out, the next portion of the training would begin—the one in which Ash's pokémon would learn a new move or practice a previous one. Of course, the trainers weren't out of the rigorous training. On the very first day, Ash had had to cover five miles on the island, jogging with her, and had been a complete wreck at the end of it. The next day, it had been a little better, and then on the third day, Cynthia had increased the distance to seven, much to the younger trainer's horror. Whenever she battled with Ash, she didn't stop until he was down with humiliating defeat, after which, she would recite out all the mistake he had made, which he would diligently note down and think on it later after dinner.

The week was almost over, and he could already see the changes in his pokémon. Magnus for one, had become extremely fast, able to switch from dragon claw to metal claw and back in the blink of an eye. His dragon-breath and dragon-claw attacks were now honed to maximum finesse, though that was no cause for any kind of relaxation. Under Garchomp's tutoring, he had been able to grasp the concept of Draco meteor and was able to use it, though he was still unable to use it to the efficiency that Garchomp had. Earlier in the morning, he had subconsciously activated Blaze, and used Flare Blitz, instead of the Dragon-rush, and come slamming into Garchomp, charring the elder dragon at places. Of course, Garchomp had stomped his own dragon-rush into his abdomen with a powerful punch, an event after which the two dragons had decided to call for stalemate and sat out the rest of the session.

Shelgon, naturally because of his anatomy, had been restricted to using long-range attacks, which meant perfecting his dragon-breath, dragon-rage and flamethrower. He had already mastered dragon-claw as Bagon, and hence Cynthia had him learn the move _Protect._ The idea was to make Shelgon a powerful defensive tank, courtesy to his powerful shell. The only twist was that when the opponent was close enough, the defensive tank would be able to dish out a good amount of damage.

Pidgeot, courtesy to the amount of power that her mega-evolution had given her, had become more than a match for Braviary when it came to a battle of pure power and speed. However, that was when the other elements came into consideration, the two most common ones being Braviary's ability to use both Hyper Beam and Heat wave. After two consecutive defeats, the larger bird had to bow down and begin learning those two moves from Braviary, something that had busied her for the next couple of days. Pidgeot had also progressed with Hurricane, though the move wasn't perfected yet.

Crawdaunt had made some positive improvements as well. The crustacean had mastered his hold on aqua jet to a superlative degree, and had begun to learn the basics of Dark Pulse from Absol. Usually, he would be put against Spiritomb or Lairon to increase his ability as a physical battler.

Poliwhirl had, truth be told, the hardest regimen than any of the others. The tadpole pokémon had been made to go through a grilling unlike any other. Limited to his use of bullet punch against Medicham, the tadpole had been smashed into the ground over and over until he had attained some progress in trying to anticipate the next move. Medicham also had him trying to learn Hypnosis, whose progress had been abysmal so far. However, as far as his training with Milotic was concerned, he had easily managed to trace out the moves behind Ice Punch, and had progressed to Blizzard. Cynthia had advised Ash to get a TM for Hail, should Poliwhirl be able to master Blizzard in a month or so.

Speaking of Milotic, the elegant serpent had a really strenuous time with Gyarados, strenuous for the atrocious pokémon of course. While his hyper beam and dragon-breath held a good amount of power, Gyarados wasn't capable of continuously using the move for more than three seconds. After five days of excruciating training, Gyarados was able to stabilize that to six seconds, before Milotic had pronounced his efforts as satisfactory enough. Because his Hydro-pump was already good enough, Milotic had Gyarados learn aqua tail in battle, which meant getting hit by her tail over and over until Gyarados was able to copy the move t0 counter it in time. Of course, the move hadn't been perfected yet, but things seemed hopeful. The next move of course, was for Ash to imbue him with the Ice-beam TM, which he had decided to do, come Monday.

The maximum amount of progress, surprisingly, had been for Rhydon. The massive, hulking pokémon had not only been able to perfect the Mega horn, but also make considerable improvements towards Stone Edge. Of course, it was hardly perfected, but the symptoms were positive. Apart from that, Rhydon had demonstrated a perfect flamethrower attack, and his hyper beam was almost up to the mark. He would still need to learn how to draw it out for more than a couple of seconds though.

Like his elder brother, Lairon too had jumped into training with both feet. Though, his overly excitable nature along with his battle-happy attitude had caused Rhyperior to literally lift him off the ground, and send him tumbling, only for the steel-type to get back up with a grunt, and charge ahead with a perfect Bulldoze attack. Lairon was now on his way to master Rock Tomb and Earthquake, though by Cynthia's estimations, it would be a couple of weeks at minimum before that happened.

Unfortunately, Spiritomb hadn't really been of much use, since the dark-ghost-psychic trio of Absol, Gengar and Alakazam were already quite trained in whatever moves Spiritomb could have taught them. Of course, that didn't stop the trio from learning. Alakazam had been able to learn Double-team and Curse from Absol and Gengar respectively, while Gengar had been able to train herself in the moves Dream-eater, which she had managed to learn from Alakazam, and Dark Pulse, which she had learnt from Absol. The feline on the other hand, had learnt shadow ball from Gengar, while Alakazam was teaching her how to employ Magic coat, though progress was a little slow.

For some reason, Ash had avoided bringing out Trevenant out of his pokeball. For one, bringing him out could cause another commotion, something he wasn't ready for. The second point was that such a commotion would be an obstruction to their training with Cynthia, which was in Ash's eyes, too important to be wasted in such trifles. The same theory applied to Dusclops as well as the mystery dark pokémon. Knowing Team Rocket, the bloody thing would probably try to kill him the moment it got out.

However, despite the gruelling training (and the benefits), a single thing had not escaped Ash. Ever since their quarrel on the day he had encountered Trevenant on the forest, he had only seen Cynthia being the superior battler, the Champion that she was. Of course, that had been extremely beneficial to him, but he hadn't been so oblivious as to miss the subtle changes in her. For one, she never _smiled._ Not like Shirona did. For another, she avoided any form of physical gestures or touches, something that Shirona had a habit of. Even when she was with him for the entire day, teaching and training side by side, he got the feeling that _something_ was missing.

It had taken him five days to realize what it was.

He glanced back towards her. Sitting on the grass, Cynthia was silently brewing concoctions for the pokémon, leaving Ash to cook lunch. Even from a distance, he could see the solemn expression on her radiant face… a radiance that had been missing ever since he had asked her for training. It was almost like his friend Shirona had been completely replaced by Cynthia, the veteran battler and Champion.

 _Is that not what I wanted?_ He heard himself say.

But was it?

"Um… Cynthia?"

"Yeah?" The girl replied from her position, not looking up from her concoctions.

"I was… thinking of doing something different tomorrow, for a change. Go visit the town and everything."

Cynthia looked up, something that made Ash almost stop his breath. This was his friend, the person he had befriended on the ship, the one who was stupidly obsessed with ice-cream, the one… who had surprised him at the party. The one who had made him realize what an oaf he was being that night on the deck, when the rest of the world was enjoying themselves down in the Hall. This was the person who had…

"Sure," she replied in a monotone. "I suppose you should get yourself some TM's for your team. We should get them trained as much as possible before I have to leave anyway."

" _ **This… time, that I am spending with you now… is possibly my last vacation before a busy year of work."**_

 _ **"Well, then shouldn't you be at home or with family right now?"**_

 _ **She gave him a blank stare. "Why would you say that?"**_

 _ **"Well, you just said that this is your last vacation. Shouldn't you spend it with… you know, people close to you?"**_

 _ **Cynthia stared at him, as if trying to memorize his facial features to the Tee. "Sometimes I wish to have you dissected and examined."**_

She had wanted to spend her last vacation with him of all people, choosing him over her family, and everyone else. He hadn't really understood it back then…

 _ **"You… do realize that the Sinnoh Champion has the hots for you?**_ Steven had jested. He had thought of it as Steven pulling his leg. There was no way that someone like her would….

 _Would she?_

"Umm… Cynthia?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I… get the afternoon free? I need to do some stuff. Need to… plan up something for tomorrow's training." He replied awkwardly.

Cynthia looked up at him. "I thought I agreed to go with you tomorrow. Couldn't it wait?"

"No, uh, this is something I need to do alone." Ash stressed. _Come now, agree to it, damn it._

"Okay." The Sinnoh girl replied hollowly, before returning to the concoction.

Ash just stood there, stunned.

"Don't you need to go?" Cynthia replied after a while, absently noticing that he was still there.

"Yeah… I'll—I'll just see you tomorrow then."

* * *

 **AN: This has been a most frustrating chapter to write, I tell you. I wrote some 2k words and then left it for 2 days, not sure what to write after that. Got started on it some hours ago and somehow managed to finish it. I hope I managed to do a half-decent chapter.**

 **Either way, please leave a review if you like the chapter.**


	21. Reciprocation

_**I still do not understand the necessity of this overtly-**_

"Oh shut up." Ash muttered, as he found himself standing in the shopping district of Mirage Island, as he checked his pokedex to check his monetary finances. If what he had accounted for was correct, it should have dwindled out more than a bit, but then he supposed it was well-deserved. Then again, he had something around twenty three thousand pokedollars under his name, a grand amount to be frank. Coupled with the fact that his purchase of TM's came from the Silph Co. stipend, it only meant that he could save more than the usual trainer.

After his lousy excuse to Cynthia, he had headed to his tent to make plans. Considering the mess he had made with his friend (his delayed realization hadn't helped matters either), it was now up to him to mend matters before things took a turn for the worse. In his excitement, he had completely ignored the needs and wishes of his friend, something that didn't sit right with him.

He had made the mess, and he would be the one to fix it.

After a somewhat early dinner, he had all but blackmailed Alakazam into teleporting him all the way to Mirage Island. Specifically, to the shopping district. He had gone ahead and gotten himself one of the storage caskets that held more space than they had any right to—an application of the pokeball technology in the commercial world. The concept was same as that of the trainer bag packs, only that these held some special refrigeration systems pre-installed, to keep food and medicines from getting spoiled. Either way, while it charged a hefty amount, it was nicely spent. Besides, he could use the contraption from now on to store more food, restore packs and concoction ingredients—the last week with Cynthia had taught him a lot about creating medical potions either way.

It was past eight in the evening and already most people were returning to their homes, though most of the shops were still open. He had done with the first part of his secret shopping spree and as for the second part…. He would need to go to the other side of the district.

"You do know that tomorrow's my birthday, right?" Ash muttered. "Consider your aid as a birthday present in advance."

 _ **You seem to be harbouring the delusion that I'd even care it is your unfortunate date of creation in the world. If anything else, I should be unhappy that-**_

"I'll get you a personalized TM. Of your choice."

Silence reigned for two seconds.

 _ **I suppose I could contribute a little aid, what with it being your birthday and everything.**_

Ash rolled his eyes. "I knew you'd see the light. Now stop procrastinating, and help me get all this stuff. We still need to visit the Pokemart, you know."

 _ **Humans have an odd way of expressing their mind. A disadvantage borne out of lack of psychic intellect, I presume.**_

"Yes, yes, my lord, now help me."

 _ **Of course. Never one to shrink from an honest reciprocal trade.**_

"Of course you wouldn't." Ash returned sardonically. "Now the next thing we need is…"

* * *

 **The next morning.**

Cynthia got up from the bed, the alerts on her Pokenav more than enough to shed off every inch of sleepiness. Wondering what the matter was, she quickly checked up on the device. There were several messages from the Sinnoh league, especially from the Elite Four—something that she had begun associating with bad news.

 _Wonder what they need from me now…_

The Elite had been very specific in their words. She was to be the one joining the St. Anne along with the other Sinnoh trainers boarding the ship. The official reason was that it would allow her the opportunity to travel and make connections with the Elite of the other regions- what they had never really expected was the attack on St. Anne and the aftermath after it. The next couple of days, Cynthia had literally run herself ragged running from one place to another, making sure that she had accounted for everything- the survivors of the event, and the dead. Doing so that gained her a lot of notice from the other Champions—especially Steven and the Elite Four of Kanto and Hoenn, something that had gone a long way in cementing her stature as a newly crowned Champion.

And now the Sinnoh Elite were getting more restless and wanted the challenges to begin immediately.

 _Yes, Cynthia._ She told herself sardonically. _Welcome to the life of a Champion._

After defeating the previous Champion on a six-on-six battle, Cynthia had been given the traditional vacation before the Champion duty began. A vacation whose first part had been spent on the ship, and taking care of the aftermath, and the second part… she had spent in training Ash. And now the Elite wanted her back to get started on the grill.

As soon as she would return to Sinnoh, she would have to answer challenges from the Elite Four as well as the Ace teams—whoever wished to formally challenge her that is- and defend her position. The maximum number of such challenges could not extend beyond fifteen, and would have to be conducted within the span of thirty days. Should she be able to maintain her position, the Elite and the Ace squad would then accept her superiority and follow her commands for the course of one year. After cementing her position, she would be liable to accept two challenges per month for the rest of her term. It was tradition, and nothing personal.

 _Bollocks!_ Cynthia cursed inwardly. _Nothing personal my ass. They just don't want to accept that a little girl has stolen their grandeur._

She sighed.

The last week had been nothing like she had expected it to go. After that sudden bout of misunderstanding between her and Ash, she had resigned to simply training him to the best of her ability. After all, she owed that much to him, if not out of friendship, then out of the debt of saving her life all those times. And debts must always be paid in full.

And yet…

"What are you doing, Cynthia? Why? What are you trying to prove and why does it matter?" She asked herself aloud.

The silent tent did nothing to answer her concerns.

Sighing, she got up from her sleeping bag, getting ready for another day of training—oh, no wait- Ash had wanted to go to the city today. Maybe she could get herself an ice-cream. It always worked wonders for-

 _Wait._

She sniffed.

 _What is that smell?_

She sniffed again, before the familiar (and horrifying) dark shade of smoke slowly diffused into her tent.

"…ire?" She half-mumbled, and without bothering to change her pyjamas, she searched for Milotic's pokeball, rushing out of the tent. The situation outside was something she had never expected to be.

It was a mess. There were several caskets littered all over the place, and on the top of everything, Ash was trying to prepare something. The keyword to be noted here was _trying,_ since all he had managed to do was lose control and create a big mess, literally burn the bacon that he was trying to cook.

"…. What the hell do you think you are doing?" Cynthia screamed.

Ash turned towards her, looking like a deer in the headlights. He glanced back at the flames that had gotten out of control, at the bacon that he had managed to burn, and at the horrible mess and smoke. He glanced at Magnus whom he had delegated the task of making sure the flames stay at an appropriate level, but the draconic pokémon had… made a mess out of it. Poliwhirl's water gun (despite his honourable intentions) had only spoiled matters and drenched him completely from head to toe. Thus, there he was, completely drenched, standing with a large piece of burnt, wet bacon in one hand.

He turned back towards her again.

"…"

"Well?" Cynthia demanded, her hands on her hips.

"… let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

* * *

"I thought… we were going to go to Mirage Island today." Cynthia spoke softly, as the two trainers cleaned their makeshift kitchen in the aftermath of Ash's self-created disaster.

"Yeah, well I thought I'd just make something for you,"- Ash observed the sudden stiffness in her posture as he uttered the words—"you know."

"For… what? The training?" Cynthia asked, a slight tinge of melancholy in her tone.

"Not… really. I just decided to make some changes today."

"I thought… as your tutor, you are supposed to run all the decisions through me." The Sinnoh girl muttered, as she cleaned out a couple of plates.

"I'm allowed some lenience on my birthday."

"…"

"…"

Cynthia turned to face him. "Today's your birthday?"

"… Yeah?"

She looked at him blankly for a moment, gathering her words. "So… what exactly are these… caskets doing around here? And why exactly are you trying to burn half the island?"

Ash chuckled at her sardonic tone. "Um… because I wanted to spend the day with my friend?"

That stopped her short.

Ash sighed. "Look I'm sorry. I know what I said that day was kind 'a unfair on you, and I totally lost it in anger, and-"

"So this is your way of trying to patch things up?" Cynthia returned in a somewhat cold tone. "You think that I am angry at you, and not training you properly? I assure you that I am not."

"No, No!" Ash waved his hands animatedly. "I just… look I'm sorry okay? I just… you know I never really got the time to even digest that you are you… and you are a Champion… and-"

"You could fool me." Cynthia deadpanned. "You remind me more of that fact than myself."

"Look," Ash was getting nigh uncomfortable now. He sighed. "You know what happened right? With the cruise and the forest and Mewtwo and-"

"I fail to see the point."

"I'm _coming_ to that." Ash nearly yelled. _Gosh, this is difficult._ "My point is, with all that happened, and with Steven and you offering me to train my pokémon, it literally influenced me to think that-"

"Oh so this is my fault." Cynthia replied, her expressions choleric.

"Will you _allow_ me to complete?" Ash yelled uncharacteristically, shutting her up midway.

Silence.

"Well?" the Sinnoh girl demanded after a moment.

"I miss my friend." Ash confessed. "And I know that it is because of my own stupidity. I didn't really care about you being the Champion, but when you offered to help train me… somewhere in that, I forgot about my friend Shirona and I just focussed on the training, and I completely ignored the fact that you chose to sacrifice your vacation for me and,"—he gulped seeing the dangerously calm expression on her face, "—and I will just shut up now."

A second passed away.

Another second passed away.

Cynthia's expressions remained inscrutable.

"…. Umm… you aren't going to kill me now, are you?"

…

…

Finally, her lips parted. "I did not sacrifice my vacation. I chose to spend it with you."

Ash swallowed. All right, at least this was better than the silent treatment. "Cynthia… I'm sorry."

"For what?" Came the cool, cynical reply.

"For ignoring my friend. I… I overreacted about your treatment with Charmander, and I completely ignored that _my friend chose_ to spend her vacation with me, and that means that I should not ignore her, just like she doesn't ignore my own need of training. I just…" he paused, "—I just feel like I've been behaving like an asshole completely and I wanted to make this vacation special for you and I even brought you ice-cream and I—mmmmh!"

The last words remained unsaid as Cynthia pushed a finger against his lips. "Anybody ever tell you that you talk too much?"

"No way. Metagross and Alakazam talk way more than-" He stopped midway, gulping at the dangerous glare that his friend gave him.

"Yeah. I talk too much." He admitted in a desultory tone.

A little grin spread across the girl's rosy lips. "You and I are going to spend this day having fun and nothing else. Is that understood?"

"Uh-hmmm."

"Good." Cynthia's lips twisted into a grin. "Now I need to go back in and change into proper clothes"—Ash just realized that she was still in her pyjamas- "and then we are going to celebrate your birthday together. Is that understood?"

Ash gulped. "Crystal."

"Good." She turned away, a spring visible on her every step. She took a few step towards her tent, before she stopped and spun back, a sublime expression on her face. "What did you mention about ice-cream again?"

* * *

"I'm… not really sure if this is really a good idea, you know."

Cynthia rolled her eyes, as she stared at the just-turned fifteen trainer, who was only dressed in his swimming trunks, looking oddly uncomfortable about the entire situation. She herself, had shed her nightwear and gotten into a comfortable two-piece swim-suit, one that only managed to accentuate her curves, causing the most _natural_ reaction from the trainer from Pallet.

 _Desire_ , at first sight.

"You wanted to have fun, so this is my idea of having fun." The Sinnoh Champion grinned.

After the awkward end to their conversation (and his apology), Ash had treated Cynthia to his entire stash of ice-cream. He had gotten all thirteen-flavours, unsure of her favourites, though it had hardly helped matters. For one, he certainly didn't anticipate an ice-cream lover like her to just stare in wonder (and extreme focus?) at the different flavours for over half an hour, unable to decide which one to take. He had asked her to try all flavours and knock herself out, but in reality, her answer was the one that knocked him out.

" _Well, every one of them looks great… but where would I put them all?"_

After fifteen more minutes, she had settled with a triple cone of chocolate, strawberry, cookies and cream, much to his eternal gratitude, to whichever deity had listened to his prayers, and taken pity on him.

And now, she had the bright idea to go surfing on Milotic into the sea, and not just that, she wanted Ash to join him.

The Sinnoh Champion was an adrenaline-junkie. Go figure.

"Come now, Ash. It will be fun." She emphasized, before pulling Ash's arm with her towards Milotic who was already on the water, ready for surfing.

"Hold tight. It's going to get messy in a while."

An extremely self-conscious Ash held her waist tightly, as she herself held on to Milotic's red hair, which protruded from the temples all the way down to the ground, having a length closer to two feet.

"All set, Milo… let's go!" Cynthia pulled the hairs backward almost as if pulling a Ponyta's rein, as Milotic let out an enthusiastic warble, before shooting into the waters at night unbelievable speeds, literally parting the sea on two sides as it shot, with water spraying upwards all over, drenching Cynthia and Ash- the former laughing uncontrollably while the later shrieking like a little girl.

"Are you having fun?" Cynthia yelled aloud, knowing very well that it would be otherwise difficult to converse, what with the sound of the waters parting on both sides.

Ash just held on to her waist for dear life. He had nearly slipped of Milotic's body several times, and had almost fallen off. At her words, he simply held on tighter, wondering why on earth he had subjected himself to this torment.

Cynthia laughed. "We can stop by for a moment, and then continue if you want."

"Don't stop." Ash yelled back. "Once I am getting down, there's no way I'm getting back up on this."

Milotic let out another warble, almost as if in answer, and shot ahead, if possible at increased speeds.

* * *

Another hour later, an overwhelmed Ash and an excited Cynthia got themselves off Milotic, who let out another warble before leaping into the depths of the sea, vanishing from sight.

"She loves doing it." Cynthia chirped. "Did you have fun?"

Ash muttered something incomprehensible under his breath.

Cynthia laughed. "It's an acquired taste, Ash. Just try that on your Gyarados sometime. You'll love it." She paused. "On second thought, maybe we should try that out."

Ash looked at her, horrified. "Uh… Cynthia. You know I'm sorry, right? Please don't punish me anymore."

Cynthia's grin only turned wider.

He took a step back. "You are not going to go for that now, are you?"

The Sinnoh Champion smirked. "It would be fun, but… some other time, I suppose."

Ash sighed, elated.

"-after lunch, that is."

His eyes shot up in horror.

* * *

Fortunately, Ash hadn't had to face the problem of surfing on Gyarados. The strenuous exercise all morning, had made both of them quite hungry, and despite his attempts for the contrary, Cynthia had taken it upon herself to prepare the lunch, claiming that he had prepared the breakfast and hence it was her prerogative to make lunch. Knowing a lost battle when he saw one, the trainer from Pallet had agreed and let her do as she did.

The Sinnoh girl had been literally teleporting all over the place, preparing what was sure to be a succulent and appetizing meal. Then again, considering the amount of ingredients he had gotten for the occasion, he shouldn't have been that surprised in the first place.

"Mmmm… that was delicious." Ash claimed about the bacon. The morsels literally melted in his mouth when he had tried them. "Seriously, if you ever get tired of being Champion, you should open a restaurant."

Cynthia chortled at that. "I'm glad you liked it, Ash." She glanced at Milotic and Gyarados who were still in the waters. "Though I must say that it wouldn't be possible without those extra additions you brought in." She paused. "Must have cost a hefty amount."

Ash shrugged. "I'll manage. Besides, you deserve it." He never noticed her going stiff all sudden as he made his comment. "I'm just happy because you are."

Cynthia beamed at him. "Thank you, Ash. It means a lot to me."

Ash just grinned.

"Speaking of that, what about the Trevenant? I don't think you mentioned clearing stuff out with it."

"I didn't." Ash admitted.

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "And the pokémon that you got from Team Rocket? Dusclops, was it?"

Ash shook his head.

Cynthia's eyebrow rose higher. "At least tell me that you checked the pokémon you got underwater?"

Ash repeated his gesture.

Cynthia gazed at him, impassive.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Ash defended, feeling awfully uncomfortable.

"Trying to think what goes around in that mind of yours. Why on earth would you-?"

"Because I didn't want to mess up the training." He admitted.

Pause.

"Say that again?"

Ash sighed. "Because I didn't want to mess up the training."

"I don't understand. How would releasing a pokémon mess up with-?"

"Steven said that I shouldn't get the mystery pokémon out until I was back in health. But then, all that forest stuff happened, and you know what happened after that. I got myself Dusclops, another Team Rocket pokémon, and Trevenant. I don't think I need to remind you what happened when I released him?"

Cynthia had to agree. He had a point. However, that line of thought wasn't without its flaws. "You could have released it without me, and our pokémon around. I'm pretty sure a single pokémon, no matter how powerful, would be able to defeat them all."

Ash opened his mouth to counter, but Cynthia held up a finger. "Mewtwo is an exception. So are legendaries."

Ash looked away. "As I said, I didn't want to mess up with our training. Releasing either of them could cause a-", he paused, looking back at her, "you think it is easy for me? Having a pokémon and yet no checking it out, or releasing it?"

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because I was worried it would cause a commotion, like it happened with Trevenant. That would mean less training for my team. Choosing between my own curiosity and their development…. It isn't a choice to be frank."

Cynthia stared at him blankly, half-vexed and half-frustrated. As much as she attempted to do, trying to figure Ash Ketchum out was an exercise that ended in vain. A trainer that seemed to have ridiculous luck with rare pokémon, had a sort of… connection with the Legendaries, loved his pokémon like nothing else, and had balls of steel. However, pull all of that away and you had a person who seemed literally _incapable_ of thinking about his own self-preservation. He had literally chosen to save her—an acquaintance he knew next to nothing about, on the cruise, and not just once, but several times. He had then accepted, even embraced the possibility of death, if it meant that it would bring up the mythical counter that could stop Mewtwo. He had almost died of a curse in the forest and had still-

Cynthia shook herself off from those thoughts. Even now, the boy had been thinking of either his pokémon, or her. Never for himself. It went beyond selflessness. It was more like he didn't have a sense of _self-worth_ in the first place. He hadn't thought once before taking Magnus's attack on himself, trying to save her from it, when she had caused it in the first place, and now- on his own birthday, he was doing all he could to make sure that _she_ had a memorable day.

There, she had gotten to ranting all over again. His personality, his quirks… it all reminded her of the conversation she had had with him back on the cruise. Back then, she hadn't taken it that seriously, but now it made a lot more sense.

" _I am just hoping to discover my own purpose while helping my team achieve theirs."_

It didn't sit well with her. Not at all.

 _What kind of life experience could have made you… this purposeless, Ash Ketchum?_

"Release it." She finally said.

"What?" Ash asked, surprised.

"Release it out, the pokémon, I mean." She paused, rephrasing her words. "At least the dark-type, if not the ghost you captured from Team Rocket in the forest."

"You… sure about that?"

Cynthia nodded her head. "Let's see that mystery pokémon of yours."

"But you already know what it is, don't you?" Ash countered. "Steven told me that the two of you decided to let me keep it."

"I do." Cynthia admitted. "And in any other situation, I would probably- never mind, let it out."

Ash frowned, wondering where she was going with that statement. "All right." He whispered, plucking out the sole greatball in his belt, as he let out a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

The great-ball opened wide as he pressed the release button, sending red light all over the place, which then condensed to form a sort-of, sauropodian structure at first look. As the pokémon materialized completely, he was surprised to find a two-headed, quadrupedal form. Two black wing-like appendages were present on the back, while black scruffy fur covered both heads' necks and eyes. It had two claws on each front leg, as well as a stubby tail and two feather-like "horns" on both of its heads. Its round, plumper underbelly had two rows of magenta scales.

"Whoa… what sort 'a pokémon is that?" Ash whispered, as he scanned it with the Pokedex.

 **Zweilous. The hostile pokémon. The two heads do not get along. Whichever head eats more than the other gets to be the leader. Thus, it eats too much more than is normal.**

"Zweilous." Ash murmured, staring at the strange-looking pokémon who seemed to have finally realized that they were out of the pokeball, and strangely enough, had waved each head, colliding them midway, after which the two heads had begun to screech and bicker endlessly. He scanned Dexter for further details.

 **This Zweilous is female. Current move set: Bite, Dragon rage, head-butt, dragon breath, and crunch. Genetic typing: Dark/ dragon.**

"This is a dragon-type?" Ash whispered, staring wildly at his 'mystery' pokémon.

"Indeed. The only dark/dragon combination in the entire world." Cynthia supplied, her eyes shining with interest. "Their evolved form is called Hydreigon, and one of the most powerful ones out there."

"Whoa…" Ash whispered in surprise and fascination. "Why are they… you know, ignoring everything else and fighting amongst themselves?"

"They are functionally blind." Cynthia explained.

"Blind?" Ash inquired, fearing that he heard it wrong.

"Blind." She confirmed, shaking her head towards the dark draconic pokémon in front of them. The two heads were, haphazardly, screeching, and biting out of thin air, tackling imaginary creatures which were apparently around them. "It is their way of hunting. They rely on luck to capture prey, and keep on eating whenever they get the chance."

Ash looked conflicted, as he stood up from his position.

"You… might not want to get too close. They have rather sharp teeth, you know."

"Yeah. But they need food, as you said. There's lots of food over here." He countered offhandedly, as he took a step forward. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. I just… want to give you food to eat."

At the mention of food, the two heads perked up, their line of _sight_ automatically aligned towards the general direction where Ash was standing.

He picked up two rather large pieces of bacon, before holding each in either hand. "Listen to my voice. I have food in my hand. You can smell it can't you?"

"I bet they can." Cynthia snorted. "Zweilous have some of the best noses out there. They can smell stuff from a mile away. Then again, they eat almost anything, so I guess, even people are food for them." She saw the Zweilous take a step forward towards Ash, and just for precaution, released Spiritomb who floated right beside her.

The trainer in question just tilted his head in curiosity, extending both hands, a large piece of bacon in each, as the draconian creature slowly stomped her way towards him. Sniffing the bacon, the two heads snapped their ridiculously sharp fangs into it, tearing it for themselves, before going for another bite, this time literally snatching away the bacon for themselves.

"That was pretty fast." Ash observed.

"Yeah, and a murder on your pocket as well." Cynthia advised. "You should be glad that Shelgon eats practically nothing."

Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Dragons are voracious eaters, Ash, and your team in particular, has too many of them. With a Salamence, a Charizard, a Gyarados and now Zweilous—evolving into a Hydreigon, I won't be surprised if you have to battle much more only to keep them satisfied when it comes to food."

"The others?" Ash asked, slightly wary and curious at the same time.

"Rhydon, Lairon and Metagross shouldn't matter much. As long as you stay on rocky land- mountains and all, they should be able to eat to their heart's content, and besides, they don't eat all that much. Besides, Rhydon is herbivorous, so that should get it covered."

"Uh-huh."

"Ghosts… don't eat, as far as normal food is concerned, and the rest of your team… they don't have any particular food habits. The standard pokémon food should do."

"So it's only meat for the dragons." Ash confirmed. He hadn't really taken into account the costs of having so many pokémon with him at all times. Perhaps that was why trainers kept to smaller teams, sending the rest to corals, where they got fed appropriately.

"Yeah, and lots of it. Of course, dragons mostly fly around, and prey on wild pokémon out there. Your Pidgeot for example, feeds on bugs which are available by the plenty."

"I think I understand." He murmured, slowly pushing his hand further to touch the Zweilous on their heads, scratching the surface slightly. Surprisingly, the two heads seemed to relax on contact, merrily chewing the bacon he had given them. He grinned, his fingers pushing past their head into their thick fur, caressing their protruded necks. Even so, the Zweilous didn't display any kind of hostile behaviour.

"That… is not something you usually see, you know." Cynthia muttered, blinking owlishly at the draconian pokémon. "Zweilous are supposed to be hostile, at least as far as dark-types are concerned. They aren't supposed to be Growlithe."

"Well, this one is certainly not host-" Ash almost finished that line of thought when Cynthia stiffened, making him turn around, as the head on the right opened her maw, displaying her powerful fangs. Ash was almost able to remove his hand away but the head was faster.

The panic, however, was unnecessary.

A long tongue rolled out of it, licking his wrist twice, before the head let out a little screech, before picking up the bacon that had fallen off her mouth, and began to bite into it again.

The two trainers sighed.

"I repeat. They are not supposed to be Growlithe."

Ash almost chuckled. He had barely removed his left palm from the other head, but surprisingly, the head pushed itself into his palm, almost as if demanding to be caressed.

"I suppose she likes me."

"There come in all kinds." Cynthia drawled.

"Are you jealous?" Ash countered, catching her off-guard.

"Huh?" she stammered, her cheeks catching a tinge of pink. "Why—why would I be jealous?"

"Just checking."

"Pfft!" She scoffed. "Just make sure there is tasty food nearby, else your hand might as well be the bacon in their mouth next time."

Ash shuddered at the mental image, as he turned to face Zweilous. "All right, I need to return you back to the pokeball. I will be releasing you out pretty soon for more food, all right?"

Zweilous's heads gave out a soft screech, as the red light engulfed that.

"And Steven told me it would be dangerous." Ash wondered.

"That… was surreal." Cynthia expressed after a moment. "That is one odd Zweilous you have there, Ash."

"Either way, I like the way they are." Ash defended.

"Yes, yes. Take their side why don't you," Cynthia barked. "You attract all kinds of oddities."

Ash just shrugged.

"And here I was worried if giving you that pokémon was the right thing to do or not." She murmured.

That grabbed his attention. "For their excessive hunger?"

"Nah, for their hostility. It increases on evolving. Hydreigon are literally the… apex predator in Unova."

Ash peered at her. "A blind dragon as the apex-"

"Hydreigon aren't blind." Cynthia corrected. "They are… much more violent though, and are the pseudo-legendary kind."

Ash choked. "You gave me a pseudo-legendary?"

"Well, we didn't _give you_ per se. You got the pokeball. We only… made it legal."

"Semantics."

Cynthia sighed. "Yes, we did." She couldn't help but wonder _exactly_ what Ash knew about pseudo-legendaries. Perhaps she should have given him more credit than she did.

"Well," Ash drawled out, gathering his thoughts, "they are supposed to quite special, right? More than the others? That was what Derrick told me back then."

 _Not much then. As guessed._ Cynthia bobbed her head in agreement. "You are right." She paused, wondering if she should tell him or not. Taking a decision, she continued, "you probably do not know, but to gain the allegiance of a pseudo-legendary is _significant."_

"What does that mean?" Ash asked, not even bothering to hide his ignorance on the subject.

Cynthia's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a smile. "It means- whenever a pseudo-legendary pokémon bonds with a trainer, it is almost always…" she paused, "—a fated event. Not a matter of chance."

Ash listened to her words, before his countenance shifted to a frown. "I disagree."

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"I disagree. Pseudo-legendaries are powerful, and can become strong enough to stand against legendaries. Derrick told me that once upon a time." He paused, as his tone became more nostalgic than anything else. "I can agree with that, having seen the King's power, and Derrick's Metagross, or even your own Garchomp in action. Pseudo-legendaries are damn powerful, and thus having even one on my team is significant. I agree with that too." He looked squarely at her. "However, I do not agree that it is a fated event, while the rest is a matter of chance with other pokémon."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, Cynthia." Ash went on. "Believing in the sentiment you told me, would mean that me meeting Magnus back at Route 24 was a matter of chance as well. It wasn't. The same is true for each and every of my pokémon. All of my pokémon are special, in their own way, pseudo-legendary or not."

Cynthia had a searching expression on her face. _Why can't he understand? He just had a Zweilous licking out of his palm and he-_ She paused the line of th0ught. "If you say so."

"Yeah." Ash murmured.

The Sinnoh Champion parted her lips, but then paused, before making a decision. "You should know though… that not everyone will share that sentiment of yours."

Ash arched an eyebrow.

"The league." Cynthia added.

"…"

"Believe it or not, for most people in the high-up positions, especially the Elites, being a pseudo-legendary trainer _means_ something. It will make them notice you, like they noticed me, or Steven or anyone out there that has ever tamed and gotten the pseudo-legendary's allegiance."

"Notice?"

Cynthia suppressed an urge to yell out in frustration. "Ash… when I met you back then on the cruise, it was because of well, two things. The first was your battling style—it was eerily similar to my own, and the other, well because of your Bagon and your-"

"Because I had two pseudo-legendary on my team."

Cynthia suppressed her emotions. "Yes."

"And not because you wanted to be my friend?" It wasn't a question, just a confirmation.

"I am your friend." Cynthia reached forward to hold his hand. "I truly am, but back then, I was… interested in you because of that."

Ash didn't say anything.

"Come now, surely you aren't that naïve to believe that people don't have any private intentions apart from just getting acquainted?"

Ash nodded. He understood it, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

"You better believe that, Ash. Everyone of significance that has ever demonstrated any interest in you, must have had some personal interests and intentions behind making their acquaintance, at least at the beginning. Me, Steven, Mr. Stone, or even Bill Montgomery—everyone always acts out of their own expectations, and rarely out of altruism. It's only natural."

"I guess." Ash murmured. "I just… never mind." He looked up at her. "What about you? You also have a pseudo-legendary."

"Yeah, and I was the heir of an old clan, who started out with a shiny Gible. That attracts a lot of attention."

"Like?"

Cynthia paused, wondering what to say. "Put it like this. You remember I told you about the Wataru clan?"

"From where Lance is."

"Yes, well, I had a professor who tutored me in private before I set out on my journey. He was a descendant from the Wataru clan, and it was him who gave me my shiny Gible. He only asked me to keep a promise that I have never faltered, even now."

"What was that?" Ash asked, before realizing that he had perhaps overstepped his boundaries.

Cynthia, it seemed had deduced his thoughts from his facial expression. "It's okay, I don't mind. He told me never to tame another dragon in my life as a trainer."

"Huh? Why would he tell you to do such a thing?"

Cynthia frowned. "Honestly? I do not know, but he did, and I followed that rule. I never regretted it. Garchomp and I are made for each other, and he's the only dragon I need on my team."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Cynthia's face had the quintessential nostalgic expression.

"We travelled all around Sinnoh, catching several pokémon. Within three months of my journey, I already had fifteen pokémon in my team- Meditite, Jellicent, Spiritomb, Espeon, Heracross, Pupitar, Riolu, Solrock, Staravia, Roselia, Shellos, Snover, Rhydon and a Togetic. Apart from my Gible that is, who had evolved into a Gabite." She recited out from memory.

"And here I thought that Gary was overzealous, and me, plain lucky for having caught so many pokémon in my first two months."

"Sorry to break it to you, but you aren't the biggest freak in town." Cynthia quipped.

"Welḷ… that's a first." Ash chortled.

"It's actually true." Cynthia continued. "Most trainers catch a majority of their pokémon in the first couple of months, and the number dwindles down from there onwards. I only caught some four or five pokémon in my subsequent years, as I realized that it was more important to train my existing team than get more."

"I guess the same will happen to me." Ash muttered. He was slowly seeing the problems arising out of handling a large team. He had already had a large enough team, and if he managed to train them well, they would be able to bring him victory in subsequent challenges to come.

"It should." Cynthia agreed. "Though there are some morons you will find on your journey, trainers who capture a relatively decent amount of pokémon, win the badges but lose at the conferences, because they have spent their entire time poking their noses into matters they have no business with, instead of training and evolving their pokémon. Then, they just start afresh with a new region, hoping to catch newer pokémon, and repeat the entire thing."

"Let me guess, they lose again?"

Cynthia arched her eyebrow. "What else did you expect?"

"But… but what about the pokémon they caught earlier? What about them?"

She shrugged. "Sitting in the corals, perhaps. Waiting for their trainer to come back and train them sometime, I suppose. Pathetic, I tell you."

Ash swallowed. "I don't think that I'd like to follow that route."

"Good. As long you stay sensible, you always have a chance of winning a league conference." The blonde-haired girl laughed. "The Sinnoh league holds its annual conference in December, every year, so I had around sixteen months before my first try. That got me a lot of time to prepare for."

Ash was hanging on to her every word.

"That didn't mean I did pokémon training and nothing else. There was a lot about Unown research and visiting places, though I'll admit, I never got to see any legendaries like you do. I'm insanely jealous."

Ash scoffed.

"I had finished acquiring all my badges by the first ten months. The rest of the time, I spent on Mt. Coronet. It is a wonderful place for training."

"Tell me about the Sinnoh conference." He prodded.

"It's not called Sinnoh Conference, dummy." Cynthia chortled, much to his chagrin. "It is called Lily of the Valley Conference, hosted every year on Lily of the Valley Island."

"Oh."

"You'd be surprised by the starting rounds of the Conference. For one, you need to register yourself as fast as possible, since they take only two hundred and fifty six participants every year. The rest, they have to wait for the next year."

"Isn't that unfair?" Ash scoffed.

"Not really. You get a four-day duration to come up and put your names in, and the dates for registration are announced months prior. If you still cannot make it to the registration in time, the blame's on you."

"I guess." Ash mumbled.

"The eliminations are a group of four matches, winning it will bring you to the Top-32. You'd need to fight one battle every day for four days consistently, so you better keep your pokémon arranged in teams and in the peak of health for that. There are some trainers… you'd find, who only keep a tiny team of six or seven perhaps, and train them to their best. However, if even one of their pokémon gets a fatal injury, they run the risk of getting eliminated in the next match. That is why it is always better to have a large team, for insurance if nothing else."

Ash had to agree. She had a point. Besides, his own thoughts paralleled hers on the subject.

"The best strategy, I think, is to take around seven to eight pokémon at a time, train them rigorously, and then rotate them with the next batch. It helps to have multiple team-sets to rely on."

"I was working on something like that." Ash admitted.

"And here I thought you were catching dangerous pokémon to impress me." The Sinnoh girl teased.

Ash just mumbled something incomprehensible, causing her to chortle even more.

"Tell me more about your experience at the league." Ash tried, wanting to change the topic.

"Spoilsport." Cynthia muttered playfully. "Well, the talented trainers are actually those you face from Top-32 onwards. The matches become a six-on-six from there onwards, instead of a three-on-three, right till the finals." She paused. "There was this trainer called Reginald, who was a prankster. He and his ghosts gave me a really hard time in the finals. Also, there was this guy called Paul"- Ash stiffened—"he gave me a really hard battle in the semi-finals, but then I managed to defeat him. Come to think of it, your own team reminds me heavily about his own—large, powerful, heavy hitters."

 _Crap._

"Just like him?" Ash asked, more to himself than to her.

"Yeah," Cynthia was oblivious to his reaction, lost in her own nostalgia. "All of them strong as hell. It took a lot out of Garchomp, but he managed to defeat his Rhyperior and Gyarados."

 _A Rhyperior and a Gyarados._ Ash repeated in the back of his mind.

"Yeah, and that reminds me, you should start looking a Protector shard for your Rhydon."

"A protector shard?" Ash repeated.

"It's chunk of Rhyperior's inner armour, one given freely by said Rhyperior. You need it to evolve Rhydon into one. I'd have gotten you a shard myself, it's just that my Rhyperior isn't that old enough to synthesize its inner armour yet."

"It's okay." Ash promised. "I'll look for one."

"See that you do. Rhydon in general can become crazy strong, but Rhyperior are a class of their own. Even a powerful Metagr0ss or a Hydreigon would face several issues dealing with one."

"Right." He paused. "I just hope that I'll be able to perform just as well."

Cynthia held his hand tightly. "I know you will, Ash. Few can gloat of a more naturally powerful team than yours. You have four dragons on your team, for one." She paused. "Too bad I will never really know what it is like to train other dragons apart from my Garchomp."

"Is that why…." Ash paused for a moment. "Zweilous, I mean."

"… Yes." Cynthia admitted. "Hydreigon are very powerful pokémon. In fact, if you can train it to fully realize its potential, it can literally defeat each and every pokémon in your team. However, the same is true for almost all pseudo-legendaries, and you have three on your team."

"Will that… you know, pose a problem?" Ash swallowed. "From the league?"

"No, but it will certainly gain you attention from the higher-ups. I know for a fact that Lance has two Dragonite and a Dragonair on his team, and from what Steven told me, a Hydreigon too. Yours however, is much more diverse, and while Lance comes from a clan associated with draconic-kind, you are…."

"A no-name nobody." Ash muttered.

"I wouldn't have put it that way, but yes." Cynthia admitted. "It will certainly catch the eyes of those at the top."

"Do you think that they will… you know, try to get my team from me?" he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of his team getting snatched from him.

"Nothing like that." Cynthia denied. "However, they would get acquainted with you. For some, like Steven for one, you are like an experiment of sorts... I think. For Lance, from what I have heard, you are a significant… entity, no thanks to the interest that Mewtwo has demonstrated in you. The fact that you have also managed to acquire a little legendary interest doesn't help matters."

"That's what you meant about Lance wanting me tied."

"It was metaphoric, but yes."

"And you?"

Cynthia widened her eyes, caught off-guard by the sudden question. "What about me?"

"What about you? Where do you stand?"

"I…" Cynthia tightened her hold on his wrist. "I stand with you."

Somehow, Ash felt that he couldn't have been happier with any other answer.

* * *

 **Back in Kanto.**

Ace Squad. A name that was associated with power, money and social stature in the pokémon world. As far as the administration was concerned, there were two levels of Ace trainers—the Group A and the Group B. The Group A were the upper class, with each and every single member being a winner of the Indigo League at one point or another. The Group B comprised of trainers who had come up to the Top-4 in the League conferences, and multiple times at that. Usually, they were handpicked by the Elite Four, in hopes of polishing them into a gem, and also, to make sure that such talent didn't go waste, or worse, get incriminated into the malicious forces trying to creep up every now and then. However, there existed a special team—a mixture of Group A and Group B Aces, one that answered to Lance and only to Lance himself.

The Ryoto Brigade.

A team of _exactly_ eighteen Ace trainers, each of them specializing in _at least,_ a single type of pokémon, to cover all eighteen types of pokémon out there. The Ryoto Brigade, was created to aid the Champion alone in defending the security of Kanto and Johto regions.

A brigade that had been mercilessly slaughtered in less than ten seconds, by a not-quite-a-legendary pokémon known as Mewtwo.

A brigade that was now only limited to the stack of papers on his deck. Lance mused silently.

After the events of St. Anne, Lance had created the next generation of the Ryoto Brigade almost overnight, ready to challenge the uprising threat that was Team Rocket. While it was true that Mewtwo alone had been able to defeat them without batting an eye, it also should be taken into account that the brigade (and Lance himself) were battling an entity they had no idea about. The next time it happened, he would ensure that Mewtwo got a taste of his own medicine.

He owed Charizard that much.

Strangely enough, Team Rocket hadn't behaved like the way he had expected. Executive Pierce had managed to get away, as had the other Executives. From the official report, it seemed like Executive Proton had been… exterminated on the cruise's deck, though not much was clear about the rest of them. A certain Executive Cassidy had lost her right arm, while battling Lorelei, but that was all he knew about it. It seemed, that with the intervention of the mythical Dragonite, Team Rocket had decided to step back and watch for a while before trying another attempt at taking over the League. Even Mewtwo… Lance thought with disdain, had yet to make another presence in public.

He sent another glance at the ring on his right hand, the tetrahedral stone on it glowing brightly, even though it might never be used, ever again, as far as Lance himself was concerned.

 _I will avenge you, my friend._

His thoughts turned towards the newest addition to his team. The Hydreigon. Mewtwo had, in a grand display of his _magnanimity_ , Lance thought with a snarl, had _gifted_ him the dark dragon as a replacement for his Charizard. Team Rocket's pokémon or not, the Hydreigon was damn powerful, though untrained, and was currently being _trained_ by the rest of Lance's team, so that it could turn out to be a fitting battler in the future.

A proper addition to his team of dragons.

The phone on his desk rang loudly, as he held up the receiver, only to ask. "Have they arrived yet?"

"Yes, sir."

Lance paused for a moment. "Good. Please send them in."

He pushed his chair a little backward, trying to get himself a little more comfortable. He would need all of his patience to get through the meeting—a meeting on which a lot of things were depending on.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." He replied, in a loud, clear tone.

The door opened as the two foremost researchers of Kanto region stepped in, as Lance himself stood up in acknowledgement. After all, in the current scheme of things, it was extremely vital that he had these two working alongside him, not against his machinations.

He stared squarely at the faces of the two men who now stood in front of him.

Samuel Oak, and Bill Montgomery.

* * *

 **Back on Sulphur Island.**

The two trainers were walking along the sea shore, enjoying the cool evening breeze as it kissed their faces. After the events all day, the idea of a nice evening walk had sounded like a good option.

"I was thinking of releasing Dusclops tomorrow, and see what it turns out. I don't want to use up all my luck for the day." Ash declared, kicking a sandstone on the path, as it fell into the water.

"Right. Who knows, what it would turn out?" Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Maybe it would just go for the kill."

"Nah, not so easy. My team would be there, and you would be there. I don't really fear anything to happen to me."

Cynthia smiled at his admission of his faith in her, but didn't comment.

"Besides, I'm thinking it is time that after we are done with your training, I'll start training them in some of the ways I thought of over the past week. About those weaknesses that need to be addressed." He continued. "Also I need to talk to Bill again, asking if he managed to do something about Magnus."

"Hmm?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you about that. I called up on Bill Montgomery last night, about Magnus."

"And?"

"He said that he would file in appropriate documentation to register him as a special kind of shiny pokémon, at least as far as official reports go."

"Unofficially?"

Ash mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"He said that he'd drive some sense into Lance."

Cynthia chortled at that.

"Hey!"

Cynthia held her hands up in surrender. "Don't worry. It's not like every other trainer out there has a pokedex like yours that would start throwing out concerns for everybody to hear. Besides, you are an honorary associate of the Indigo League, remember? Did you tell him about our suspicion over the raid on the Forest?"

Ash nodded.

"Good, it will ease things along. Don't worry about Magnus. Lance is a little headstrong, I've heard, but he has his heart in the right place."

Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Um… I've heard that as well." She confessed. "From Steven."

Ash let out a breath. At least, he could trust the silver-haired former Champion, if no one else, as far as the Indigo league was concerned.

"Don't be so paranoid." She reached out for his hand. "Everything will work out for the best."

"If you say so." Ash muttered darkly.

The two continued walking, though for some reason, Cynthia hadn't left his hand.

"Ash?"

"Huh?"

"I… got a notification from the Elite." Cynthia spoke up softly. "I am required to report back soon."

That got a reaction from him. "How soon?"

"Maybe… tomorrow morning."

Ash stopped in his tracks. "But… but this is supposed to be your vacation, right?" He asked impulsively. "What about it? Why are they, you know-?"

"I know." Cynthia frowned a little. "I know I promised you that I'd be there to help you train-"

"Screw that." Ash retorted, much to her surprise. "I'm not talking about the training. I'm talking about you. This is supposed to be a vacation for you, right? Then why are they-?"

Cynthia tried but failed to suppress a smile on her lips. "Thanks Ash, but either way, this one day is worth a lot to me. I'll cherish it forever."

"Well…" Ash breathed. "That was the plan."

Cynthia chuckled lightly. "Either way, we cannot ignore the fact that it is your birthday."

Ash just shrugged. "Not a bloody big deal, really."

"It is for me." The Sinnoh girl countered softly. "And I did think a lot about what to give you for a gift. I wanted it to be special, something to remember me by, when you are off on your own journey." Her lips parted as she took a step forward.

"Well, I have your contact number. I guess we could call up and talk sometimes." Ash replied obliviously. "Either way, I don't really care much for my birthday, since everyone just keeps asking for treats. Even Alakazam had coerced a TM out of me last night and I had a lot of potential blackmail on mmmmh".

Before he had even barely registered what had just happened, he felt her soft, pink lips on his own, Cynthia pushing herself into him, her body seemingly melting into his own, as he closed his eyes, barely registering the happiness that filled him from within. He closed his eyes, his other hand moving up to touch her back, subconsciously pulling her closer as the two engaged in a fiery and passionate kiss.

She never let go her hold on his wrist.

After what seemed like eternity, Cynthia pulled away, as even the most passionate lovers' need oxygen, revealing a completely confounded Ash Ketchum grinning like a loon, smirking as she did.

"That… was unexpected." Ash spoke after what seemed t0 be an eternally long time.

"I've been waiting to do that for a long time." Cynthia confessed, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Yeah…?"Ash replied, still confounded. "I didn't believe Steven when he told me that you had the hots for- I didn't just say that aloud, did I?"

Cynthia smirked. "You did. Though I need to have a little talk with Steven about what he goes on blurting out in public."

Ash just raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Cynthia asked, wagging her own.

"Just wondering what this means… for us, you know. You are a-I mean, you know what you are, and I'm just a no-name no—mmm!" He felt her lips against his once again, stopping any further words from coming out.

"Does that tell you if I care?"

"Uh… a little. I might need a little more confirmation." Ash replied, half-confounded and half-cheeky.

"You are incorrigible." Cynthia replied, amused, as she pulled out of his arms. "You are going to call me up every week on that number. Is that clear, Mister?"

Ash gulped. "Sure thing."

Cynthia touched his cheek with a finger. "Good, and then… there's this." She pulled out what seemed to be a tear-drop shaped glass ornament, just like the one she always wore on the front of her shirt. Said ornament was black, crystalline and had a chain tied to it, to be worn around the neck. "This is for you."

"Matching ornaments, eh?" Ash quipped.

She rolled her eyes. "It's more than that. This ornament… it contains a wing feather given freely by Cresselia, one of the legendary lunar duo of Sinnoh. It keeps away nightmares from harming your sleep."

Ash gazed at the crystalline artefact in his fingers. "A legendary's… wing feather?"

"Yeah." Cynthia confirmed. "My grandmother gave me a pair. I have one with me," she touched the ornament on her neck, "and now you have the other."

"But… shouldn't you be-" Ash stopped his question midway, at her gaze, "all right. I accept it. Thanks." He looked away at a distance, as a sight caught his attention.

"Cynthia?"

"Huh?"

"Look at that."

The two of them looked towards their right, staring in surprise as hundreds of Wingull and Swablu, flying together in the evening sky. It was a beautiful sight. He felt Cynthia smile, move closer and hug him, as his own hands closed in on her.

For the first time in his life, Ash Ketchum felt that he wasn't alone. That he had someone to look up to, to whom he would prove himself over and over, despite never being asked to do so. Someone… who believed in him like he did in her… someone who brought alongside her, a feeling that he had searched along for a long, long time.

Purpose.

* * *

 **AN: That brings us to the end of this entire Mirage island and aftermath arc. Next chapter, we return back to Kanto. There might be some time-skip, but no promises on that.**

 **On a completely different note, I was reading this fanfiction 'Ambition' yesterday, and was so surprised to find a 'Ash and Ritchie meet and battle in the Pallet forest' just like it did in Legend. It was… strange. Either way, a pretty interesting fic, though the story is only at Pewter arc yet.**

 **The next issue, about the mystery pokémon. I'm glad that some of the reviewers caught the numerous hints I gave away in previous chapters, with Butch's scene and later with Bill and… either way, yes it was a Zweilous. But you already know that.**

 **Now to answer some questions asked in the reviews. If I miss something, please let me know.**

 **Magnus has a pure dragon typing. Dexter says that in his scans.**

 **OP Mewtwo too much? That was the intention, buddy. The legendaries are OP in this story. Also, Dragonite isn't a legendary. It is a pseudo-legendary.**

 **Fully evolved pokémon before 4** **th** **gym? Is there a provisional ban on that?**

 **Electric-type and Pikachu… Hmmm… I can tell you that you will be seeing Pikachu soon. Not super soon, but soon. Though in what fashion, you'll have to wait and see.**

 **As for Magnus? Yeah, that's the nickname Ash has given HIS sort-of-Charmeleon.**

 **Okay, that was all. Please leave a review if you feel the chapter was for your liking. Constructive criticism and suggestions are gladly welcomed.**

 **Thanks.**


	22. Cursed

"All right guys, it is time to leave. If you guys do not hurry, Alakazam will keep on haranguing me over it."

The first two weeks of June and had come and gone, and now, some fifteen days after Cynthia had left for Sinnoh, Ash Ketchum found himself, in a T-shirt and shorts, standing on the shore, looking at the vast sea around, one that connected the solitary Sulphur Island to the rest of the world, and importantly, his destination, Vermillion Harbour.

The one day he had spent with her had been something out of someone else's life, it seemed. Then again, the idea of being with someone, the thought that there was someone who really liked him and wanted to spend her life with him, had brought a fundamental change in the person that was Ash Ketchum. The very morning when Cynthia left, he had suddenly felt something he had never really felt before, not even when he had left his home to start his journey of becoming a Pokémon master.

He _missed_ her.

However, there was no point in standing on the island, sunk in nostalgia. Cynthia had left him with memories he would cherish in her absence, until the two of them could get the chance to meet again. Of course, they would be in touch via the Pokenav, but that was hardly a substitute. The more important thing though, was the new-found sense of purpose- to prove himself, to show that her faith, her trust in him was not misplaced.

He would become the greatest Pokémon trainer in the world.

And then, he would defeat her in a Champions' Battle. No matter how long it took it for him to achieve that goal. He would do it.

That was then.

Over the last two weeks, he had extensively trained, both himself and his pokémon. There had no new moves to learn, only old ones to perfect. There had been no TMs purchased, only the ones in hand distributed amongst everyone. After a week of learning new skills and battle-technique from Champion-level pokémon, it was time to implement them and put them in order. Older and basic-level moves had to be permanently replaced with advanced and more powerful ones. There was no point in learning a hundred moves, but mastering a few to absolute perfection.

That had been the goal.

And be sure of it. It hadn't been easy. In fact, it had been Hell with a Capital H for some of the members of his team- Rhydon and Lairon being the most distinct. The two rock-types were powerful, but their heavy bulk usually made them to be quite slow in movement—something that their trainer had tried to _optimise._

By making the two of them run all over the island and back. It was a good way to achieve two aims. The first—improve their stamina by leaps and jumps, and teach them how to instinctively use the move _Rock Polish._ And they did—panting, stomping, sweating and completely overwhelmed, but they did do it.

And more.

Poliwhirl had been literally beaten to death by Magnus, who in turn, had been frozen more times than he could count. Absol had run Crawdaunt to his afterlife and back, uncompromising and firm, until the crustacean had managed to procure a dark pulse attack at a moment's notice. Said feline herself, had also been run ragged by a rather authoritarian Alakazam, teaching her the art of Magic Coat, something that Absol had been having a lot of trouble with. Considering the fact that Alakazam wouldn't be available after they reached Pallet, Ash had been unyielding about it when it came to his pokémon procrastinating on learning psychic techniques.

Gyarados and Poliwhirl had made remarkable growth and were now ready to learn better techniques, and on their way to versatility. Rhydon, Absol and Gengar were already there, something that had made Ash work out on the next set of TMs that he needed to acquire for his team once he reached Vermillion city.

Shelgon had mastered nearly almost everything that was effective and plausible, and now only needed to apply it in battle, and more importantly, wait out his innate metamorphosis before it was time to break out of his cocoon and reveal the powerful dragon within. Till then, the little draconic pokémon would have to stay in as a defensive tank, and thus, had been made to practice with Lairon, Poliwhirl and Crawdaunt- a practical way to teach him the move _Protect._

Magnus had finally mastered Draco Meteor, and though he wasn't as… natural with it like Shelgon, he had persevered, and was now one of the strongest offensive battlers on Ash's team, on par with the likes of Rhydon and Metagross, the latter still away with Steven on his private training. Just as Steven had mentioned, Metagross would be returned when Ash managed to return back to Kanto.

His hand almost subconsciously reached for the tear-drop ornament that he wore inside his shirt, caressing the crystalline object that had been _her_ gift to him. He had faced her in exactly twenty-six battles, and each and every time, she had wiped the floor with him using nothing but sheer tactical manoeuvres. Every night, after dinner, Ash had meticulously studied and noted down the inferences from the day's battles, the techniques she had used, the modulations she made, the mistakes he had committed—everything. And over the last two weeks, he had done his absolute best to incorporate those inferences into his own battling style.

And now… Kanto was waiting for him. His town, his home, his family, and his mother. They were all waiting for him.

He would be damned if he disappointed them.

"Come now, we need to hurry," he yelled, before whistling loudly, as Gyarados shot out of the sea, in a spray of water, before hovering majestically, as Ash jumped on top of him, before climbing all the way to his back, right up to the top-most segment right next to his head, getting himself a comfortable position to stand on, holding the middle horn protruding from the centre of Gyarados's forehead for balance.

On either side, Poliwhirl and Crawdaunt appeared on the water surface, each on either side of Gyarados, before yelling out in excitement. Magnus, Rhydon and Lairon had finished their ongoing practice brawl and had arrived at the shore, from where Ash returned them back into their pokeballs. Absol, like the comfort-loving feline she was, had already returned herself into the comforts of her pokeball long ago, something that had gotten smirks from a certain psi pokémon.

 _ **What has gotten into you today, midget?**_ Alakazam asked, mildly annoyed, as the psi pokémon floated up to him, levitating himself to Ash's level by constant exertion of his psychic powers. It was something of an ongoing competition between the psi pokémon and Gengar, who was able to levitate, simply by virtue of her ability. Not wanting to be shown up by an otherworldly, overtly-sentimental, female-in-heat (Alakazam's words, not Ash's), the psi pokémon had begun to keep himself levitated for the entire day if only to prove that the lack of a mere _ability_ wasn't going to keep him down.

That was when Ash had gotten the brilliant idea.

They would be traveling to Kanto by sea, with himself upon Gyarados, while Poliwhirl and Crawdaunt would be swimming the entire way. Alakazam and Gengar, would be _flying,_ using their respective abilities. Pidgeot on the other hand, would be carrying an overly excited Shelgon in her claws, so that she could get used to flying with heavy loads (a good practice if she wanted to pull something along the lines of Seismic toss), and more importantly, to give Shelgon a taste of actual flying in the air. Of course, it wouldn't fulfil his wish of spreading out his own wings, but it would be the next best thing.

"Well, I need to get home as quickly as possible, after all, it's time to get rid of you." Ash grinned, knowing very well that the psi pokémon knew it well that he wasn't being serious.

 _ **Right. How could I forget that? Ungrateful ingrates.**_

"What did you say?" Ash taunted.

Alakazam didn't deign to reply back, as he concentrated on his own psychic powers.

"Right," Ash grinned, "last one to reach Vermillion is a Slowpoke." He pulled back on Gyarados's horn, making the atrocious pokémon let out an excited roar, as it shot across the water, with Poliwhirl and Crawdaunt doing their best to keep up with the humongous sea serpent. Up above, Pidgeot was already ahead in the race, while Gengar and Alakazam were struggling to keep up with the rest of them.

A bizarre sight, for anyone standing on the shores of the shores they passed by, seeing the ridiculous sight of several water-types, a flying-type, a ghost and a psychic, all racing each other in the middle of the sea.

* * *

 **Meanwhile at Indigo Plateau.**

By tradition, a meeting of the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders was held twice a year, the first being just after the day the registrations for the upcoming Indigo Conference had finished, which was usually sometime in the middle of February, and the next being just after the Celebrations party held in honour of the new winner and the Top-4. This one was usually in the last week of March, after which, the declaration of results for the Trainer Certification was released out. Today's meeting however, was more of a special session, one that was being presided by the Champion (a rare thing) and not related to the Indigo Conference at all.

Inside the large, stone-walled conference room, seated across two concentric U-shaped tables, were the Gym leaders and the Elite Four, the latter seated up front, facing the elevated podium upon which Lance stood, with a sprawling table behind him.

"As you well know, the St. Anne event has hit Kanto hard, with several questions raised over our administration and security, especially with this…" Lance paused, "... Mewtwo business."

"But we haven't detected any Team Rocket activity ever since then." Erica, the Gym leader of Celadon city, spoke up. Erica was a black-haired woman, in her later twenties, who always dressed in Japanese kimono and professionalized in grass-type pokémon. She also owned a grass-type nursery close to Pallet, but that was a story for another day.

"You are right, we didn't. At least, not in Kanto at least." It was Steven Stone, who answered the impending question. "However, we have received… intelligence about a large scale Team Rocket attack on the outskirts of Mirage Island, in Hoenn."

"Isn't that… in the vicinity of where the St. Anne was attacked?" Giovanni, the Viridian city gym leader posed. "I wasn't informed that Team Rocket has been active outside of Kanto."

Steven glanced at Lance, before answering. "An Executive had attacked the mystical Forest of Illusions, notorious in Hoenn for being the abode of several Ghost-types. We believe that they were quite… successful in their endeavour."

"Did they capture them or kill?" Daisy, who was representing the rest of the Waterflower sisters, put forward.

"Capture, to my knowledge." Steven answered.

"Why would you think that the ghosts were killed?" Lance inquired.

"Well… It would have gotten a similarity with what happened with the Tauros herd at the Meadow." Daisy answered, feeling sickened just by the mere thought of it.

"To my knowledge, the… massacre was done by Mewtwo, though it can be agreed that he is after all, working for Team Rocket, or at least, with them."

"I don't understand." Giovanni interrupted. "This… Mewtwo, as you call him, seems like a Legendary, at least as far as his powers are concerned. Why would a pokémon want to… systematically cause the deaths of other types of pokémon?"

"That… is indeed one of the main topics behind this meeting." Lance answered. "We have gathered intel that Team Rocket has been… experimenting on pokémon, trying to create, and stable hybrids by combining DNA of multiple types to create a better version of both."

"They are, aren't they? Bloody bastards." Lt. Surge exploded. "Do we have any details?"

Lance paused, sending a meaningful glance at Steven. "We do."

"Like?" Giovanni pressed.

"Lance… Allow me." Steven intervened.

Lance considered it for a moment. "Go on."

Every eye turned to Steven, who cleared his throat. "We have a specific Charmander in question, whose genetic typing is… interestingly, _dragon/fire._ His move set, to my knowledge, is composed of draconic attacks, and his inner-flame is much lower than is imaginable for a fire-type. Also, his DNA is an unnatural cross-breed of a male Garchomp and a female Charizard. To my knowledge, he was found on a solitary route, from where he was picked up and taken in by a trainer."

"An unstable hybrid." Lorelei declared.

"It would seem so, but the experiments made on this… Charmander's DNA reveal that not only is this hybrid pokémon stable, but also capable of mutating to create an almost new species, with evolution."

"Then where is this Charmander?" Blaine inquired, his face holding a frown. "I expect he is already being tested out at the Labs?"

"The Charmander in question…" Lance admitted, "-is with his trainer."

"And why?" Blaine argued. "According to protocol, the Charmander must already be in League custody for experimentation."

"We have received assurance that we will be getting all the data revealed through the tests made on Charmander's DNA."

"And why?" Blaine argued angrily. "Either way, the tests could be wrong as well! Why are we accepting that at face value?" Blaine barked.

"We do when the researchers are Samuel Oak and Bill Montgomery." Steven replied from his place.

That shut everybody up.

"I am not even going to ask how Oak and Montgomery came into this business." Blaine muttered.

"Good." Steven replied merrily. "We aren't going to talk about it anyway."

"Who is this… trainer?" Erica asked softly.

Steven sighed. "Ash Ketchum."

"Ash?" Brock recognized. "The one from Pallet Town?"

"Yes." Steven muttered.

"You know him?" Blaine grunted, glaring at Brock as if the black-haired young man was the source of all evil in the world.

"He… defeated my team on the first go. I even gave away a Rhyhorn to him, hoping he would take good care of it." Brock answered.

"I should tell you that said Rhyhorn has now evolved, and is in excellent condition." Steven put in.

Brock smiled. It felt good to hear that he had made the correct choice.

"So…" Giovanni mused, "It seems like Steven here, knows this Ash Ketchum personally."

"You might… say that," Steven agreed.

"Ash Ketchum is… an honorary Associate of Indigo league." Lance declared in a monotone. "For reasons which are on a need-to-know basis."

"And I suppose that Mr. Stone here has a hand in his sponsorship?" Giovanni put in slyly.

"I did." Steven admitted, staring hard at the other man.

Giovanni checked in, on the laptop in front of him. In a matter of seconds, Ash's trainer profile was on his page, as he eyed through the contents. "Interesting… and quite an interesting group of pokémon under his registration." He looked up. "How long has this kid been into training?"

"I'd take a rough guess at two months." Brock answered. "He challenged me back in April, and it was his first week of travelling, from what I remember."

"Interesting." Giovanni mused, his lips curling.

"I think we might be digressing from the point?" Lorelei rebuked everyone, much to Steven's chagrin.

"Thanks, Lorelei." Lance muttered, clearing his throat. "Intel suggests that someone out there, has been working on pokémon-hybridization, and we have a specimen to prove that. Also, we know that Team Rocket has been capturing pokémon of various types in large quantities- Beedrill from Viridian forest, the Rhyhorn population from Grandpa Canyon, Tauros from the Isle Meadow-"

"Wait, I thought that the Tauros were killed." Daisy interjected.

"They were, but stats have revealed that over forty of them were unaccounted in the deaths." Lance answered.

"And now the ghost-type from Hoenn." Sabrina muttered.

"Rock, Bug, Ground, Ghost—anyone notice a pattern?" Lorelei muttered sarcastically.

"And we should not forget that Team Rocket has been found to have a surprisingly large number of Magnemite, Umbreon, Goldbat and Muk under their command."

"Electric, Dark, Flying and Poison." Lorelei commented darkly.

"And Charmander- surely, the one Ash has is not the only one out there?" Steven proposed.

"Add fire to that list, Lorelei." Lance replied with a sigh. "Nine types out of eighteen."

"You are forgetting something else. All nine types are offensive ones." Lt. Surge voiced, "And if you count this Mewtwo, then you have psychic in them as well."

"This looks more serious than I had anticipated." Erica exclaimed.

"We should not forget Mewtwo." Blaine muttered.

"Yes," Lance muttered as well, "-we have a Legendary… well, or one that might pass for one, working alongside Team Rocket, though its aims aren't… clear at the moment."

"Is it not possible that Mewtwo could be- you know…?" Lorelei put forward, not really sure how to put it.

"I must confess I have given a lot of thought on that." Lance admitted. "The name Mew-two, does suggest a similarity to Mew, and given the nature of his powers, or at least those that have been publicly spotted anyway, are more likely something that Mew could probably do."

"Wait," Brock asked, anxious, "are you seriously suggesting that Team Rocket got its hands on the Legendary Mew, who is more of a myth to most people?"

Lance paused, gathering his words. "There might be a sneaking suspicion, yes. If not the Legendary, then at least some portion of DNA belonging to Mew."

"From what?" Blaine scoffed. "A fossil? Come now, Lance… the textbook definition of a Legendary is that they are singular. There isn't a _Mew fossil_ lying around somewhere. Unless Team Rocket has managed to spot Mew, who might I state—hasn't been spotted in several hundred years, it is simply inconceivable that-"

"Wrong assumption." Agatha spoke up, her rather harsh voice enough to stop Blaine midway. "Mew was spotted in Cameran Palace, in Rota, some fifteen years ago."

"And who was the one reporting this information?"

"A freelance researcher." Agatha spoke with unnatural fondness. "Red."

"Wait… Red as in ' _The Red?'"_ Daisy spoke up. "The one credited with-?"

"Yes, we do not need further exposition on him. Thank you." Agatha barked, enough to make Daisy shut up.

Lance almost face-palmed. Red was coming up with startling frequency. Whether he liked or not, it seemed like a meeting was to be in order, and very soon. Somehow, Lance could feel in his bones that it wouldn't be a good thing.

"Either way," He spoke up, attracting everyone's attention. "Whether Mewtwo is just a… manner of emphasizing the near-Legendary power of this pokémon, or if it is really…" he paused, "really created as a hybrid clone from Mew's DNA, is not the main focus. I have arranged teams to look into this Mewtwo matter, but I believe it is our prerogative to consider _Team Rocket_ as a significant enemy and take appropriate measures."

"As Gym leaders, we can enforce a little more security in our respective zones." Boyd, the Gym leader of Chrysanthemum Island, spoke up. "Though maybe posting a pair of Ace trainers in every city and town would be beneficial as well."

"The Group B could be a good option." Surge muttered.

"We do not know why Team Rocket has gone silent in the aftermath of the St. Anne event. There are theories about the mythical Dragonite being one of said reasons, but either way, we cannot afford to wait for them to make the next move. We must be pro-active in this situation." Lance declared.

"So we are to believe that Team Rocket is mass-capturing pokémon to create Hybrids? To start a war?" Giovanni asked.

Not a single member wanted to voice their agreement to the remark.

* * *

In hindsight, travelling all the way from Hoenn to Kanto by sea wasn't as much fun as Ash Ketchum had anticipated. The start-off had been rather enjoyable, what with everyone racing their way through the sea, past the shores of various islands on the sides. After almost eight hours of constant travel, they had managed to cross the Hoenn region and had entered the Johto sea-zone, a good thing that Mirage Island Archipelago wasn't that far off from Johto. The sun was going down, and the team had decided to call it a day and find a good place to land for the night.

As if that were not enough, the sea had turned uncooperative, with a storm rising, causing Ash and company to hasten their plans to stop for the night. Considering that all of his fellow travellers were completely exhausted by the constant exertion of their powers—Alakazam and Gengar more than the others anyway, Ash had decided to send them back into their pokeballs along with Pidgeot, Gyarados, Crawdaunt and Poliwhirl. Even Shelgon seemed way too overwhelmed with travelling all day, despite the fun he had had, and seemed too sleepy, causing Ash to return him into his pokeball as well.

That meant that now, he was sitting there, all alone, on the shore of an unknown forest-covered island in the middle of nowhere.

Tired of the loneliness and the slowly growing darkness, Ash lifted up a pokeball, releasing Magnus out. The icy blue fire burning brightly on his tail, illuminated the general area a little better.

"Char?" Magnus inquired. Last he knew, they were supposed to be returning towards Ash's home, wherever that was. Somehow, finding him all alone with his trainer, on the sands of a forest-covered island didn't really seem like the appropriate destination to the draconian type.

"Yeah," Ash sighed. "It's a long story. Apparently, travelling by sea all the way home is much more exhausting and time-taking than I anticipated."

Magnus sighed, shaking his head in vain. Trust his trainer to make such stupid decisions.

"Then there was this thunder storm arriving out of nowhere, and we got caught in the middle of it. So, we decided to get to the nearest place we could, and well- everyone's too tired, so I returned them to rest."

Magnus sighed again, pushing a little more energy into his tail, making it glow brighter.

"On second thought," Ash murmured, plucking out another pokeball, and clicking the release button. "Come out, Absol."

The red light condensed to form the pristine white-furred dark-type, who stepped ahead and licked his cheek, a habit that she had begun to develop over the last couple of weeks. Strangely enough, Absol seemed to have bonded with him pretty easily, something that had often bewildered Cynthia, since Absol weren't the type to easily trust people. The normal disposition towards Absol because of the superstitions over disaster didn't help either.

"Hey Absol, would you like to stay with me and Magnus for a while? We need to get some place to set up camp for the night."

Absol purred before bestowing her agreement.

"Also…" Ash paused, staring at all around him. "Just look at the mist. We need to set up tent quick, or else we'll get drenched and fall sick."

"Excuse me? Are you perhaps… a traveller?"

Ash spun back at the source of the voice, finding himself face to face with a young woman. She looked a little past twenty, black-haired and wearing a traditional Japanese outfit. On one hand, she held an old-fashioned lantern, which emitted a pale, dusty light.

"I'm sorry I took you by surprise." The woman apologized. "I was just returning to my home when I heard your voice on the shore, and a blue light, which I assume belongs to your… pokémon."

"Yeah, Magnus and I just arrived here a while ago." Ash rubbed the back of his head.

"And…" The woman turned sharply towards Absol, her countenance hardening a little, "Does this… pokémon also belong to you?"

"Yeah, Absol is my pokémon as well."

"Oh." The woman frowned. "I must confess I'm not really comfortable around your Absol. The last time I saw one…" She sighed, looking back at Ash, "I'm sorry. There isn't any point wasting your time in my nostalgia." She paused. "You look like you need a place to stay the night."

For some reason, Absol decided that she didn't like this woman. The reason wasn't clear to her, but something about her felt a little… off. It wasn't like the aura of the otherworldly ones or the all-knowing-ones but still… something felt strange about her. Then again, maybe it was her disposition towards her that made Absol feel uneasy. She didn't really have the best experiences with humans, save her trainer. However, that was for later, and Ash was speaking.

"—and that was how I ended here on this island, where you met me." Ash finished his account, and almost instantly after, his stomach growled in hunger.

"Ehehehe!" Ash chuckled, flushed and embarrassed.

The woman chuckled. "It's okay. I suppose you are hungry as well. If you wish, you can stay at my master's home for the night."

"We wouldn't really want to impose…" Ash drawled, but his stomach betrayed him once again with a rather audible gurgle.

The woman chuckled again. "It's no trouble. Please follow me."

* * *

"So what is this island called again?" Ash asked, as he walked alongside the woman. Magnus walked up front, his tail flame lighting up the way better than the lamp the woman, who introduced herself as Aoi—was holding. Behind them, Absol slowly trudged her way, not even bothering to hide her dislike for the strange woman who held her master's complete attention. Something about her was so… alien.

"At one time, this used to be a part of the eight islands that made up the Sagittarius archipelago. However, because of a massive earthquake some centuries ago, this place got separated, broken off and away from the other seven. We are really lucky that we survived, though not everyone on the island was fortunate enough to do so."

"I'm sorry." Ash mumbled. Perhaps that was the disaster the woman—Aoi had experienced after seeing the Absol. Maybe that was why she… didn't like seeing Absol in front of her.

"It's okay." Aoi muttered, her hand on her neck. "My master's ancestral home was severely damaged as well."

"Your master's? Aoi… who is this… Master?"

"Well, his name is Satoshi, and he is a Ship's captain. He sails abroad and is involved in import and export." She paused. "You might have seen the wrecked ship on the other side on the coast? It once belonged to him."

"I can't say that I did." Ash apologized.

"It's okay. You might have missed it in the mist and fog."

"That reminds me… what's with all the mist?" Ash asked. "It is kind of, unnatural."

Aoi laughed. "A lot of travellers say that. Ever since the earthquake, mist and fog always inundates the island after sunset. I do not know what that is, I am," she paused, "not educated enough."

"I'm sorry. It is not a slight on you." Ash apologized.

"No worries, please this way now." She turned towards a narrow lane that drew out of the main grassy path. The trees were much thicker now, and the roots were sprawling out of the ground, eerily reminding Ash about the Forest of Illusions back in Hoenn.

"How much further?"

"Just a little more." Aoi whispered.

"So… Aoi, what do you do here?"

"Me?" She laughed. "Not much really. Most of the time my master is away on business. In his absence, I take care of the house, and the land. When he comes, I take care of him. That is all." Her voice seemed eerily light, when she was talking, almost as if the mere thought of her master brought happiness into her world.

"Oh." Ash muttered, glancing at Absol, who seemed to be walking very, very close to him.

"Absol, do you think there are ghost-pokémon around?"

"There are." It was Aoi that answered. "A multitude of ghosts abound these forests. However, they are quite docile and do not harm the natives. You have nothing to fear."

"Uh… sure. If you say so." Ash muttered, as he turned to Absol. "Are you sensing any hostile ghost energy, Absol?"

Absol mewled, but shook her head.

 _If Absol is fine, then I suppose everything else is, as well. Either way, I could always release Gengar if need be. She can help, I suppose._

"Just this right, and we are done." Aoi turned past, and right in front of them, was a moss-covered, giant wall that seemed to go on for yards, with a grand gateway in the middle. Beyond the door, was a large, Japanese-styled mansion, and despite the dim-light, Ash could tell that the edifice had seen better days.

"Pretty old house, huh?"

"Centuries old." Aoi replied in a monotone. "Please come in." She took a step inside. "If I might suggest, could you please pull your Absol back into her pokeball, you know… brings back memories and all."

Ash had a conflicted look upon her face, as he gazed back and forth between her and Absol. The feline in question, was doing a perfect representation of the word _hostile,_ as she stared at the woman.

"I'm sorry." He finally replied, "-but for some reason, Absol isn't comfortable with going back into her pokeball." He missed the inscrutable look that flitted past the woman's face as he gave a fond gaze at the feline who purred, rubbing her horn against his leg playfully. "If there is really a problem with it, then we will just return back to the coast."

The woman stared at him for a moment before glancing at the feline. "Very well," she sighed. "If you are not to be convinced of it, please bring it along. However, if that thing brings misfortune to you, do not blame me."

Ash smiled uneasily. "I am sure nothing like that will happen."

Something about the woman's disposition _shifted._ "Please do not say things like that. My Master had a habit of saying the same when he… never mind, please come in."

Ash just bobbed his head, not wanting to anger the woman. "Come on in, Absol, Magnus."

* * *

"This is delicious." Ash proclaimed, guzzling up the contents on his plate, as Aoi served him triple helpings. While he was quite a voracious eater, he didn't really… eat so much. Now though… it felt like no matter how much he ate, there was always place for more in his bottomless pit of a stomach.

 _I guess I was more exhausted than I thought._

"Uh… Aoi, I'm really thankful for everything. You know, bringing us here, and giving us such delicious food to eat." He turned towards Absol and Magnus, who surprisingly, were being very choosy over their plate, barely eating anything at all.

"Hey guys, what's wrong?"

Magnus snorted, pushing the plate of food away, as he sat down. The indication was clear—the food wasn't up to his standards—which was completely shocking, since the standard pokémon food he had eaten as a Charmander was bland at best. Then again, Cynthia made wonderful poke-food, which was perhaps why Magnus was raising concerns.

Absol too, pushed her plate away, preferring to cuddle against her trainer, with her head on his lap.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked. "I have some contained food from the previous day. I can bring that out if you want."

Magnus snorted in agreement.

 _Strange._

"I suppose my cooking is not up to your pokémon's standards." Aoi replied in a tight-lipped tone. It was clear that she was less than impressed, but holding on to her sense of hospitality.

"I'm sorry. I assure you I ate it with relish. My pokémon though… seem to have a different taste, no offense to you."

"None taken." Aoi waved it away. "Is there anything else you want?"

"Oh, nothing really, but I was just wondering… with such a big mansion here and everything… why is it that no one else lives here?"

"As I mentioned. The entire property belongs to my master. This mansion, and the forests all around, and even the dwellers in them, all of them belong to my master."

"The forest dwellers, you mean the ghosts?" Ash asked, surprised.

"There are many things that abound in the forests than otherworldly beings, Mr.—uh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, my bad." Ash laughed. "I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum."

"Such a strange name." Aoi muttered. "You look quite enlightened, like someone who has seen a lot, been through a lot."

"Well-" Ash felt slightly embarrassed.

"My master too had a similar disposition at one time." She replied softly.

"At one time? What happened?"

"Oh, well, he is away now, and it's been quite some time since I saw him. I suppose he… changed."

"Changed?" Ash stressed. _Something is really, really odd about this place. It feels so very… fake._

Aoi just looked away. "Enough nostalgia. Please get yourself rested. As soon as the fog retreats, you can go home."

"Ah, right. The fog." Ash mused, staring out from the chair. He was sitting close to the balcony, and yet, he couldn't see a single thing outside, almost as if some kind of alien energy, as dark as the blackest night, had enveloped the entire area.

 _What is that thing?_

"Is it always like this?"

"They say that the fog is like a familiar. It encroaches closer on finding family." Aoi replied cryptically, before turning around and walking away.

* * *

As soon as the door to his rooms closed, Ash stood up from his chair, almost in unison with Magnus and Absol, who started to growl softly. He took out Alakazam and Gengar's pokeballs outside, releasing them out, as flashes of red inundated the entire room.

 _ **Seriously midget, you just had to interrupt my rest after such a long-WHAT the hell is going on here?**_

Alakazam was practically yelling out, both in his mind, and in his own tongue. His eyes glowed sharply with icy blue light, his spoons glowing bright and silver, before both returned to normal. With an icy stare, the psi pokémon turned towards Ash, and snarled.

 _ **Where are we?**_

Ash gulped. He had been getting an eerie feeling from the very beginning, but this simply confirmed it. Even Gengar looked uncharacteristically alert, staring around in all directions. Then, she turned towards the psi pokémon and spoke something in her own tongue. By Alakazam's reaction to it, he could figure out that it was hardly a good one.

 _ **The otherworldly one confirmed my suspicions… We are the middle of nowhere.**_

"Well, we must be somewhere." Ash countered. "We did cross the Johto sea-border, so we must be someplace close to-"

 _ **You do not understand, human.**_

Ash stepped back, never having seen Alakazam—or Kadabra for that matter- to behave so roughly. Never before had he missed being called 'midget'.

 _ **We are in the middle of nowhere. This place… it is not within the boundaries of the real world. I wouldn't be able to teleport out of this place even if I wanted.**_

Ash swallowed, looking out at the fog outside. "Is it because of the ghosts in the forests?"

Gengar growled, expressing her thoughts on the matter.

 _ **There are no ghosts out there, mere ghostly energies and trapped spirits. Cursed forms, and entities that we fear to name. The fog… it is filled with an alien energy that hurts mine and the otherworldly one's senses.**_

"You mean…. You mean, it is _dark_ energy?"

Absol snarled, almost as if in defiance to that argument.

Ash stared at her. _Not even dark energy? What the hell is it then?_

 _ **I cannot say for sure, midget.**_ Alakazam replied. _**If I didn't know any better, I'd have claimed that we have entered the Distortion.**_

Ash gulped. This was bad. Very, very bad. "The woman… Aoi, she said that we could leave when the fog retreats."

 _ **Which means you are stuck here forever, in case it doesn't retreat.**_ Alakazam yelled into his mind. _**Seriously midget, I should demand payment for-**_

"Shut it." Ash snapped. "We need to find a way to get out of this place."

 _ **How about you ask your pretty little lady?**_ Alakazam snarked, having gone through Ash's recent memories with a single glance into his eyes.

Magnus, all this while, was growing more and more impatient. His claws had extended outward, glowing with draconic energy, and even his maw was glowing bright orange, something Ash recognized pretty easily.

Draco meteor.

"Magnus…" he whispered slowly. "Please calm down. We need to think and decide what to do. Throwing up a Draco meteor might create more problems for us than there already are."

Magnus let out an angry grunt, but somehow managed to cool himself down.

"We don't know where we are, and I don't suppose I could simply walk out of the mansion to the coast outside." Ash muttered sardonically.

 _ **I'd enjoy seeing you try.**_ Alakazam replied callously.

Gengar on the other hand, much to Ash's surprise, was busy in conversation with Absol, something that surprised Ash. From what he knew, ghost-types and dark,-types didn't get together, but then… they come in all forms, he supposed. Gengar then drawled out something to Alakazam, and Absol seemed to agree to it.

"What is it?"

 _ **The otherworldly one and the void-using feline thinks that we should try to find a way to get out of the mansion first. It is not like staying here is going to help matters.**_

"We could do that." Ash muttered, wondering how on earth he had managed to get into such a place. First the sudden storm, then the solitary beach and now this-

 _ **If you are done with your mental monologue, I should prefer being returned to my pokeball. The ambient energies hurt my senses.**_

"Right." Ash deadpanned, lifting the pokeball and returning the psi pokeball into it. He turned towards Gengar. "Do you also want the same?"

The Gengar looked a little conflicted, before finally shaking her head in denial.

"Very well," Ash decided. "I have decided that I'm going to go up to Aoi, and demand her to let me out of this place."

The three pokémon standing in front of him, sighed in resignation.

"Oh come on." Ash resented. "You know it is a good start as any. It's not like we have a better alternative."

The three pokémon looked at each other, and then glanced at the closed door, before turning to Ash, as if to say, "After you."

* * *

"All right, let me try this one." Ash panted.

They had been going at it for over several minutes now, running past one room into the others. For some reason, none of the rooms were locked, and the doors opened and closed without the barest amount of friction in them. However, despite them running past one corridor before slipping into another, it seemed like no matter how far they ran, there would always be a new corridor, or a new room, or a staircase or balcony- it was never ending.

"It's official. This is some kind of grand-scale illusion." Ash panted. He had released Alakazam out once again, only to receive a denial. Apparently, whatever had caused this illusion was just as alien as that fog outside, and it was beyond Alakazam's psychic prowess to break through it.

A humbling thought, both for Ash and the psi pokémon.

"What do you suggest we do now?" he asked, staring at his compatriots. "This illusion cannot be broken, nor can your"—he looked at Gengar-"powers leak us out through it. Even Magnus is becoming irritable by the minute, the only one unaffected is Absol."

Absol grunted, his maw filled with dark energy, as she sent out a powerful dark pulse towards one of the walls, which went tearing through it, and much to Ash's shock, fog seemed to slowly creep into the mansion through the broken wall.

"Yeah- no, I don't think that's what we really needed."

Absol snarled at the fog, which merrily pushed itself through in little whiskers, seeping in through the broken wall. In a moment, the entire wall had been enveloped by the mysterious thing.

Ash had enough. "All right, Magnus. If this dark energy, then we use something that can hurt it. Use dragon pulse."

Magnus's tail flame raged as it burnt even more brightly, as the draconian pokémon released a powerful sphere of concentrated draconic energy, something that altered its shape into a draconian form as it slammed into the fog, as well as destroying the walls on either side. Surprisingly enough, the fog seemed to have receded a little, much to Ash's grin.

And then it came in with full force.

"Uh… run." Ash yelped, as he escaped from the other side, the three pokémon following swiftly behind.

They passed through corridors, through rooms and broke through walls, not really caring what they did, or how they did it. Magnus's claws were glowing bright silver with draconic aura surrounding them, a permanent dragon claw in effect, as he broke through the walls, with Ash and the other two pokémon following swiftly behind. Often Gengar would throw a dark pulse, joined in with Absol, towards the fog, pushing it back slightly, whenever they felt themselves trapped. However, it was only temporary and the fog continued to pursue them with full force.

* * *

They had run themelves into a tight corner, surrounded by stone walls on all sides, and the fog coming towards them from the only opening.

"Absol, dark pulse. Same for you, Gengar."

The two pokémon sent out two successive spheres of concentrated dark energy, which was- or at least, what Ash thought it was- deflected away by something that seemed awfully like a dragon tail attack. Even in the nigh impenetrable fog, he was somehow able to make out a specific shape, something like a giant sauropod with wings. And it was staring at him.

No, it was almost like it was _judging him._

"Magnus…" Ash whispered. "Use Draco meteor. Don't worry about anything else. Get us out of here."

Magnus was only too happy to oblige. His entire body glowing with draconic aura, he let his maw open, unleashing a large sphere of bright orange, which reached up to the ceiling, before exploding out into powerful draconic spheres, which began falling down on all sides, completely shattering the stone wall, allowing Ash and company to escape out of it.

"This way." Ash yelled, as the group rushed into what seemed to be a large, stone-walled room with a fireplace. Even from a distance, Ash could see the smouldering flames inside it. On one side of the fireplace, was an old-fashioned rocking-chair, on which Aoi was sitting, her eyes closed, relaxing.

"So… you managed to find this place after all." She spoke, not caring to look up at all.

"Aoi." Ash answered in a throaty voice. "Let us out of this place."

"No." Aoi sat up straight, her icy blue eyes staring squarely at Ash in the face. "You will not leave me again. I do not trust you, not to betray me again."

 _Betray? Again?_

"Aoi… I think you have me confused with someone else. I'm-"

"I'm perfectly capable of recognizing you Master Satoshi." Aoi replied in a strange, feral tone. "You ignored my warning. You chose that monstrosity over me," she pointed towards Absol who snarled back, "—and you left us, despite my warnings."

She stood up, her hairs now starting to glow crimson red, as she took a step forward. "I told you that the monstrosity would bring us ruin, but you laughed at my concerns. You made me pledge to protect this house until you return, choosing to have that monstrosity with yourself instead of your faithful."

"Look, you have me confused with someone else. I am Ash Ketchum, not Sat-"

"I know perfectly who you are, Master Satoshi. Do not try to beguile me." The woman literally snarled. "The fog will not enter this place, this sanctum, for it is under my protection. As long as you stay here, you will be alive. The moment you step out into the fog, _Distortion_ will claim you, like it claimed hundreds before you."

 _Hundreds?_ Ash swallowed.

"After you left, the massive catastrophe consumed the island. So many innocents lost their lives, all of that because _that_ monstrosity had to arrive on this land, and then you choose her over me, your faithful."

"Then…" Ash swallowed, grasping for words. "Then how did this island, and this mansion become like this? How did… did Distortion, engulf this place?"

The woman sneered. "I protected it. I used my mystical powers to bind this place, this house, this land to myself, and protected it, even when we were there, deep down beneath the waters. My true powers were awakened, and my mind elevated… and this island rose. Back to the surface. For three hundred years I have waited for this."

Ash's eyes widened. Who was this woman? Or rather… _what_ was she?

"But…. But you are just a normal person. How could you have done all that?"

"Your betrayal knows no limits, master Satoshi." The woman snarled. "You betrayed me, you never returned, and now… you claim to not even remember my form?" Her eyes turned vermillion. "I will have my vengeance upon the likes of you."

Aoi began to glow with a dazzling bright light before her form condensed, her frame turning into a lupine-shape, her body now covered with gleaming, golden fur, as nine tails erupted out of her posterior end, before folding back, as she now sat, like a regal queen, staring at him, her vermillion eyes glowing with eldritch energies.

"Ninetales…" Ash whispered. _Aoi… was a Ninetales all along?_

He briefly remembered having checked out on Ninetales after battling Silver. Seeing Harrison get one as well had only increased his interest in the mystical pokémon. However, the two specimens he had seen prior to this had no comparison with the one that sat before him. For one, Aoi was easily around five feet in height, and when seated down on her hind limbs, clearly way taller than Ash himself. Her golden tails, had acquired a vermillion shade towards the end. He briefly remembered reading somewhere about it.

 _Of course._ He realized. _Crimson red vermillion._

It was a phenomenon said to be associated with Ninetales, a mystical fire-type that was believed to be capable of surviving more than a millennium. Apparently, on evolution from Vulpix, the nine tails are completely golden, and each tail is believed to hold a single, latent mystical ability which is different for every single Ninetales in existence. As Ninetales mature, it slowly gains control over its mystical abilities, causing its tails to acquire a pinkish coloration at the ends. The theory states that should all nine tails acquire a crimson red coloration at the ends, slowing lightening and reaching a vermillion shade at a point in the lower middle portions, then said Ninetales would have likely gained mastery over all of its mystical abilities. This particular state was known as _Crimson red vermillion._

He shuddered as he suddenly remembered that such a Ninetales was literally just as dangerous as facing a horde of dragons.

"You will be going nowhere." The Ninetales projected her thoughts aloud, just like Mewtwo was capable of doing.

 _Me and my luck._ Ash decided. _As if Mewtwo alone wasn't enough. What's with super powerful pokémon having issues with my existence? Wonder which fucking deity I managed to anger in some previous life._

"Ninetales…" Ash began, at which the fox-pokémon snarled.

"Aoi." He backpedalled. "If this land was under your protection, how did this... Distortion claim it?"

"You dare ask me that?" The nine tails were now separated, and blowing in a mystical wind that encompassed the room. "My oath of protection twisted by your betrayal, my faith in you turned to eternal horror, my mystical powers turned to _curse. Distortion_ claimed the impossibility I created, and now it wishes to claim what is rightfully mine. I will not allow that."

"So, as long as we are here, the fog will not come in?"

Ninetales didn't reply.

"Look, Aoi… I will say this again. Your master, Satoshi… he was someone else. I am Ash, and I am just fifteen. I cannot possibly be the one you are waiting for. He must have-"

"Lies!" Her voice thundered, as the wind lashed against Ash, almost as if it were a manifestation of her emotions. "You lie, Master Satoshi. I can sense the taste of your spirit. It is just as I remember. You have that pale monstrosity with you as well. Do not try to defy the truth. I will have my vengeance, and you will stay here forever, by my side."

 _Damn, this is… going nowhere._

Ash looked out at the entrance. He could see the fog trying to barge through the door, but some kind of mystical force— _Ninetales,_ he realized, was keeping it out. That meant that should Ninetales be gone from this zone, it would mean the fog engulfing the room, and by extension, everyone in it. And that meant that-

 _Wait._

Ash slowly pushed his fingers towards his belt, aware of how Ninetales was watching him warily. With exaggerated slowness, he pressed the release button on Alakazam's pokeball, releasing the psi pokémon outside.

 _ **Another - an illusion of the nine-tailed fox? That is what this is?**_ Alakazam cried in his mind.

"Your psi won't be able to aid you here, master Satoshi. Without my presence, the fog will engulf you, and as long as I am here, your psi will not be able to teleport."

 _ **That is a rather accurate analysis.**_

 _Thanks for your vote for confidence._ Ash thought sourly.

 _ **I should say Midget… whatever you are planning, it is going to send us hurling into distortion. DO NOT put it into action.**_

 _Do you have a better idea?_

 _ **I take that back. I shouldn't have read your mind.**_

 _Ass._

Ash ignored Alakazam's expletives, and focussed on the Ninetales in front of him.

"You are right. I am master Satoshi."

Every single eye turned towards Ash, wondering if he had lost his mind. Absol and Magnus in particular, looked completely perplexed by his actions. "But I have a query. If you really think that I betrayed you, then why didn't you leave this mansion? Why not… escape from this hell?"

The mystical pokémon looked down. "I tried. But every single time I tried to walk away, something always pulled me back into this room. Something… trapped me in this place. And it is all because of you."

"Very well." Ash sighed, pulling out Gengar and Absol's pokeballs, and returning both of them, much to their shock. "If I was responsible for trapping you in this place, then I will release you from this place as well."

"What are you-?—NO!" Aoi yelled.

"Yes," Ash stressed. "Magnus, use Draco Meteor. Full power."

Magnus let out a fearsome roar, propelling out a beam of bright orange upwards, which reached the ceiling, before exploding powerful, as meteors of draconic energy began to fall all over the place.

"No, Master Satoshi, don't do this!" Aoi yelled, as all nine tails began to glow with an alien energy, her eyes glowing bright vermillion, using her mystical strength to stop the draconic meteors in the air.

"Again!" Ash roared, and Magnus bided, belching out two more Draco meteors, enough to make the dragon fall down upon his hind limbs, completely spent and exhausted.

Instantly returning Magnus to his pokeball, Ash picked out a lone ultraball in his hand, as he watched the Ninetales use the entirety of her power to try stop the incoming meteors. "I am your Master, and I command you. Aoi, _return to me."_ He threw the ultraball towards the feline in one go.

And Time seemed to stop for the mystical pokémon.

One instant, she had been overwhelmed with rage and vengeance, seeing her Master try to destroy the place that had been her sanctum over centuries, as she extended her awareness to prevent each and every of those meteors from falling down onto the ground. The second moment, she saw the ultraball coming towards her, and behind it, standing was her master.

"Aoi… return to me." He had said.

For one moment, the room, the distortion outside, the falling draconic meteors, the rage, the anger, the strength… everything ceased to exist. For that moment, there was only her master, standing there in front of her, throwing the pokeball at her. For one moment, it was like she was back with her master, before everything had happened, with her master uttering those words…

All over again.

 _Aoi… return to me._

For that one single moment, frozen across space and time, everything else didn't matter. All that Aoi knew was that her master had returned, and was wanting her back. The blind rage faded, as she let out a woof, before releasing her hold on the room, and shifting into pokémon-energy, as the ultraball hit her on her face.

Ash barely registered the 'ding' as the ultraball, now having succeeded in capturing a pokémon, returning to his hand, as the Draco meteors began to fall to the ground.

"Alaka-" He began, but before he could finish the word, darkness engulfed him.

* * *

 _It is official. I hate teleportation._ Ash decided as he managed to land face-first into water, drenching himself from head to toe. He felt water rushing in, before blowing over him, drenching him all the way all over again.

 _ **That was hilarious.**_

Ash looked up, recognizing the sun coming up from the horizon. It seemed like early morning, and he was lying, face-first on the beach, completely inundated by the morning tide over and over, while Alakazam stood on dry ground, half a yard away, laughing his arse off at his condition.

He felt the solid ultraball tightly clenched in his right hand.

 _It's over. I guess._

He looked up, before pushing himself off the wet sand. "Where are we?"

 _ **Verity Island. One of the seven islands that make up the Glitter Archipelago.**_

"Any special reason of bringing us here?"

Alakazam shrugged.

"Hmmm…" Ash mused, trying to wipe off the wet sand off his face. "Could you help me out with this? I will get you a TM of your choice if you do."

The psi pokémon laughed, before his eyes glowed pale yellow, as every single piece of sand dropped off from his body. On second thought, even his clothes were completely dry.

"Useful." He commented. "So… are we completely out of that place?"

 _ **We are.**_

"Hmmm…" He glanced at the pokeball in hand. "What to do with her now? Think she'd attack me again?"

 _ **With your luck, it only seems the most probable outcome.**_

"Should've known you'd say that." Ash muttered, before letting out a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." He lifted the ultraball up. "Go, Ninetales."

The ultraball opened up with a pop sound, releasing the red pokémon-energy which condensed into Ninetales, who let out a long howl, spreading her tails regally, as she considered the person in front of her.

"Who are you?"

 _Okay. I didn't expect that to happen._ Ash sighed inwardly. "I'm—I'm Ash, and this is Alakazam. Don't you remember anything?"

Ninetales tilted her head, staring at Ash contemplatively, before her mystically-conducted voice was heard. "I seem to remember my Master returning me into a pokeball, but… you are… you are _not_ my Master."

Ash rolled his eyes. "Of course I am not."

 _ **Now she understands.**_ Alakazam deadpanned.

"But then…" The fox pokémon tilted her head, as her memories became more vivid. "I… understand now. Your spirit… it has the feel just like Master Satoshi, and you had an Absol as well. I… in my twisted trance, failed to differentiate."

"Aoi," Ash hesitated for a moment. "It has been over three hundred years since that earthquake happened. Whatever happened to your master, he is long dead. He won't be returning back."

The Ninetales drooped her head. "I understand that now."

"If I might ask, what was that thing? The fog-filled island of Distortion?"

Ninetales lifted her head. "The effects of a three-hundred-year-old curse, placed by my subconscious self while drowning deep beneath the sea. My powers were inconsequential, but my curse… unbearably powerful. It kept me alive, and yet, created an all-encompassing fog of death. Should I have come into contact with it, I would not have survived."

"I… understand." Ash tried.

"You do not. I hope, for your own sake, that you never do." Aoi refuted back.

 _ **He will…**_ Alakazam shook his head in mock despair. _**He is way too incredulously lucky, or not, for that.**_

Ash snorted. "Either way, what happens to you now?"

Ninetales shook her head. "I do not know. My purpose for existence was to serve my master. That purpose shifted into vengeance, which twisted my mind into that… monstrosity I had become. Now… after all this time, I do not know. Maybe I will simply walk off into the afterlife."

Ash stood silent.

 _ **Midget, you better not be thinking to-**_

"Why don't you come with us?"

That… grabbed her attention. "You nearly died because of me and my twisted grudge."

"I know." Ash shrugged. "Most of my team has tried to outright kill me if not seriously maim me, at some point. It's kind of… the ongoing theme, I should say. Oh and Alakazam doesn't count. He's my mom's."

Said pokémon just shook his head in vain.

"You are… a curious individual, Ash Ketchum." Aoi declared.

"I know, I have been through a lot." Ash chuckled, rubbing the back of his hand.

"Like?"

"Look into my memories, you will find-"

"Alaka!" Alakazam stepped forward, his hands raised, ready to prevent such a course of action from taking place, as he glared at Ash. _**Are you stupid? Allowing a psychic access to your mind?**_

"You are either extremely innocent or extremely stupid, Ash Ketchum." Aoi replied.

"Uh… both, I think." Ash chuckled. "Anyway, I truly do not mind. Go ahead."

The Ninetales looked at him with a scrutinizing expression, almost as if she were trying to figure something about him. Then, she came to a decision, and her eyes glowed vermillion, and Ash found the memories of his life as a trainer—right from the day he had stood in front of Pikachu, all the way to the present day, flash in front of his eyes with rapid succession.

"Interesting…" Aoi _spoke_ at last _._ "I realize now… why your spirit tasted just like my master, Ash Ketchum."

Ash didn't know what to think of it, so he decided to shrug.

"So?" He asked after a while.

Ninetales looked up.

"What did you decide, about doing?" Ash questioned.

"I suppose… you did catch me, after all." Ninetales stared squarely at him. "So maybe my own _purpose_ is to serve someone else apart from my master after all. I owe you for breaking me out of that… void."

Ash decided that the best thing to do would be to keep quiet.

Ninetales looked up at him with a stern expression. "I must confess I do not have a liking for battle. However, should you desire for me to accompany you, I shall do so."

"Umm…. Great." Ash swallowed, turning towards the psi pokémon. "I don't suppose you can teleport me home from here?"

 _ **My awareness is depleted from continuous exertion, midget. My services shall be unavailable till evening.**_

"Great…" Ash muttered, as he turned back towards his newest capture. "Well then, welcome to the team. I suppose I should introduce you to everyone."

 _ **Can it. We are all too tired.**_ Alakazam stated, before turning into poke-energy, as he returned into his pokeball.

"Shows how much respect I get." Ash muttered resentfully, before looking up. "I guess… Steamer, it is."

* * *

 **Several hours later...  
**

 _ **I must confess, communicating mentally like this is rather… odd. I never had any problems communicating with my Master back then.**_

 _Well._ Ash rubbed the back of his head, as he stood on the large, elevated platform, waiting silently, as the sailors on the blue and white steamship in front of him unloaded the goods, the passengers slowly getting out, alongside. _The world has changed. The fact that I can communicate with you mentally is almost an oddity for most._

 _ **I am unimpressed. The world did not progress like we thought it did.**_

 _We?_

 _ **A story for another day.**_

 _Of course, mistress._ Ash taunted. A part of his mind couldn't help but notice the subtle glances he was getting from the passengers walking out. Even the ones standing near him were stealing glances at him.

 _ **Why are they glancing at us?**_

 _It is not their fault. It's not every day that you see a beautiful, golden Ninetales walking alongside someone like this._

The mystical pokémon supressed a blush at the compliment, as she stared up at the pair of Wingull painted on the ship. _**Where are we going?**_

 _Home. To my mother. At least for now. Feels like an awfully long time I have been away from her. You'd like her. She's… a researcher who works with psychic pokémon._

 _ **What's a researcher?**_

Ash flushed, wondering how to explain that to her. _Umm… a person who finds information._

 _ **Why would anyone keep finding information all their lives?**_ The fox pokémon inquired, looking up curiously at her _trainer._

 _Uh… so that other's might be able to use it._

 _ **Hmm…**_ Aoi mused. _**I think that is incredibly lame. If I were to find myself information about a new den, I wouldn't share it with anyone else. Good dens are hard to find. Humans are… foolish and complicated.**_

Ash chuckled at that. "I guess they are." The odd behaviour got a couple of glances from the people around him.

 _ **Do you also want to be a researcher when you are older and have gotten a mate and offspring?**_

Ash nearly choked at her choice of words. _I… I didn't decide all of that yet. I'm just fifteen._

 _ **Pity.**_

For some reason, Ash had a feeling that he had just missed a joke. For all he knew, the joke was on him.

 _ **I think I will like this… Home, of yours. It will give me a start to finding my purpose.**_

 _Well… that's as good a start as any._ Ash thought inwardly.

The steamship let out a long whistle, indicating that it was time for the new passengers to climb aboard. With Ninetales swiftly following him, Ash climbed aboard to the ship's deck, before submitting his ticket to the sailor checking for them, as he was directed to the seats. The journey from there to Vermillion Harbour was a long one, and would take at least twenty hours on a good day, which meant most of the day—a good thing that he had a lot of canned food to last him and his companion.

Getting himself a rather comfortable one by the window, Ash put away his backpack under the seat, before adjusting to a comfortable position. Ninetales, simply leapt over his lap, coiling herself effortlessly into one and a half turns, with her muzzle resting on Ash's abdomen.

 _Somebody's rather comfy._

 _ **A lady needs her comforts.**_

Ash rolled his eyes. Then again, it would be a long journey to Vermillion, and considering that he had missed an entire night's sleep, a good nap sounded like something to pursue for the moment. He looked down at the delicate creature sleeping peacefully on his lap, resting in peace for the first time in centuries—or more, he mused.

 _Not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all._

* * *

 **AN: And… that was all. Pshew! This chapter was a surprise, even for me. Hope I did a decent job with it. Please provide a review if you liked the chapter.**


	23. Back at Home

At first sight, the entirety of Pallet Town would seem more of a sprawled out colony than a town, considering how more than half of the zonal geography was occupied with forest land. To the north, there was the peak of Mount Hideaway, a place notorious for its rumours of savage pokémon that inhabited the grassy cliff. Beyond the hill, flowing downward along the banks of the little stream that flowed all the way to Viridian, was a vast gravelly land known as Pokemopolis, a ruin that had been unearthed some forty years ago after a massive earthquake nearly devastated the entire region. To the south, there was a massive plantation of Oran-berry, with half of the land belonging to the Oak family, who had their formal residence in the heart of the little colony somewhere in the centre of the entire region. Of course, there was also the famous Oak Ranch, the residence and workplace of the famous Samuel Oak, built at the top of a tiny plateau overlooking the Oran-berry plantation.

Pallet had a relatively sparse population, with most of the majority being involved in agriculture, or pokémon rearing. There was also the Xanadu Greenhouse located further east, almost in the outskirts of Pallet, which belonged to Erica, currently the Gym leader of Celadon city. With such limited exposure to the external world, the main motivation for the younger population was usually limited to the Oak family and its grand conquests, as well as the rare Elite-level trainer who would come in waltzing their way through the town to meet the Grand old man Oak.

The grassy path that led to the interiors of the residential colony was a lone one, with the occasional Pidgey chirping on the trees, or perhaps a pair of Rattata playing tag with each other. In short, it was just one of those bright, sunny and quiet days for Pallet town.

 _Crack!_

Thud!

Alright. Not so quiet.

The sound of a cracking whip exploded out of nowhere, as Ash Ketchum appeared in mid-air, before waving his hand blindly, before he fell face-first, two feet down onto the somewhat hard, grassy floor.

"Oww!" he pushed his face up, rubbing his nose, staring at the disgustingly snide expression on Alakazam's face, who stood in front of him. "What was that for?"

 _ **I have no idea what you are talking about.**_

"Of course you don't." Ash grunted, picking himself up, brushing the dry earth off his clothes. At least it wasn't wet sand like the last time. "Let me guess, your teleportation was interrupted by super-powerful psychic defenses causing you to stop here?"

 _ **You have a hyper-active imagination. I simply did it because it was fun.**_

"And not… say, a way for you to make it even with me landing you on that island?"

… _**Well, that as well.**_

"I knew it." Ash muttered, before releasing Ninetales out of her pokeball, who let out a pitched woof before settling beside him, her golden fur gleaming in the bright sunlight, as she took in the entire scenery all around her.

 _ **It is a beautiful place.**_

Ash chuckled, nodding his head. "Come on. We are getting late. Alaka-"

But Alakazam had already teleported away, and if Ash was right, the psi pokémon would probably ruin his surprise as well in the next couple of seconds.

He wasn't sure if his mother was at Professor Oak's lab, or simply working at the house. Then again, she owned a little restaurant on the edges of the town, though it was run by the staff Delia had appointed. While the Ketchum's weren't exactly wealthy per se, they were more than comfortable enough. With Delia working as Professor Oak's assistant, and the restaurant bringing a reasonable amount, he had never quite seen his mom having trouble with finances. Between himself, her and the three pokémon she owned, it had been a comfortable life before he had begun his journey as a trainer.

"I guess we will start off with home." He told her, as the two fell in steps. "Either way, there will be Kirlia at home, and she'll inform Mom that I have arrived, if Alakazam hasn't already- this way, Aoi." He took a sharp turn from the main lane, leading towards the solitary house at the end of the lane, with the overtly decorated garden all around it.

"That's Alakazam's garden." He explained. "He hates it when anyone trespasses into his property without his express permission. Even Mom treads carefully when it comes to it."

 _ **Interesting. And the other pokémon?**_

"Well there is Kirlia. She's way too chummy, and loves to dance. Out of all three, she's my favourite." He paused, "and then there is Mr. Mime, and well, she kind of… freaks me out and hates me because of it."

Aoi looked a little surprised. From Ash's memories, she knew what he had gone through over the last couple of months. If this Mr. Mime _freaked Him out,_ she wasn't sure what to think of the pokémon.

"- but don't take my word for it. For all we know, you might be best buddies with her." Ash was saying.

Somehow, Aoi wasn't sure if it would turn out that way. After all, Ninetales were extremely choosy, and by extension, extremely prejudiced as well. If this pokémon didn't go well with her trainer, chances were that her own interaction with her would be nothing short of a major debacle.

"And here we are." Ash smiled, as he opened the gate, and almost instantly, got himself tackled down to the ground, by a hyper-excited pokémon.

"Hey Kirlia." He chuckled, looking up at the green and white emotion pokémon who had tackled him just as soon as he had crossed the gate.

"Ash!" It was his mother, standing at the doorway, her face lit up as she walked down towards the gate. "I knew you'd be arriving today."

"I guess Alakazam informed you?" Ash scowled.

"Nah…" Delia laughed. "Kirlia has been dancing since morning."

 _Ah, right._ Ash realized. The Ralts-line were blessed with the powers of clairvoyance, and while it is was almost dormant in Ralts, the ability showed itself in successive evolutions. A fully mature Gardevoir's ability at discerning the future was almost on par with that of a Xatu, who were literally prophetic by their very nature.

 _ **So this is Kirlia.**_

"Kirl?" Kirlia looked up, seeing the unfamiliar fox-pokémon standing at the gate. Something in the fox-pokémon's vermillion eyes told the emotion pokémon that this mystic wasn't the _common_ Ninetales that she had met before at the coral. There was something… unprecedented about her, something that the emotion pokémon failed to fathom.

 _ **Your empathy cannot appraise through my mind, little one.**_

Kirlia gave her an indignant look. No one called her _little_. She turned her attention back to Ash, rubbing her face into his chest, something that for some reason, made Ninetales clench her jaw.

"Kirl!" She cooed, as Ash petted her.

"Yes, yes, now let us get in." Ash chuckled, holding his mother's hand to pull himself off the ground, only for Delia to embrace him a tight bear-hug.

"How are you?" she muttered, holding him close.

"You know…" Ash grinned, hugging her back.

"I missed you so much. Don't know why I had to let you become a trainer." Delia muttered, her voice faltering.

"Hah! You knew I'd never choose anything else." Ash pushed away, grinning at her. "How are you, mom?"

Delia just shrugged. "Just like always. My little boy's all grown up and left this old crone all alone to manage everything by herself."

"I don't see any old crone? You don't look a day over twenty." Ash teased.

"Ah, stop buttering me." Delia laughed, hugging him again.

"Can't breathe!" Ash whimpered, before Delia let him go, allowing himself to breathe again, much to his mom's grin. Chuckling at her antics, he turned towards Ninetales. "Mom, Kirlia… meet Aoi. Aoi, this is Mom, and you've already met Kirlia."

Aoi let out a cute woof, something that endeared her to Delia, who was already entranced by her gleaming beauty.

"Wow… I have never seen a Ninetales as beautiful as you… Aoi." Delia whispered, slowly petting Aoi's head, who, despite clearly showing discomfort and hesitation, allowed her to pet her head.

"Umm…" Ash intervened. "Aoi has issues with trusting people quickly, Mom."

"Oh," Delia pulled her fingers away. "I'm sorry, I suppose I just got carried away." She looked at Aoi hesitantly, who didn't react to it. "Anyway, come on, in. I made all your favourites today."

"All of that because Kirlia was dancing?" Ash arched an eyebrow.

"A mother always knows." Delia winked, before entering back into the house.

Ash shook his head, picking up Kirlia upon his shoulder, as he walked into the house, with a slightly inscrutable Ninetales following behind.

* * *

"Damn… it feels like an age that I've been at home." Ash realized, as he bit into the crispy coconut biscuit that Delia baked for him. She was a natural at baking, and often did so for the restaurant whenever she got a time off from the lab.

"You are the one who wanted to go ahead and embrace a life of adventure." Delia scoffed. "I always wanted you to be a researcher, or even better, manage the restaurant."

"Boo-ring!" Ash drawled, much to her chuckles. "You know I'd run away." He turned to Aoi. "Do you like it?"

Aoi, who had bitten into the crispy cookies on her plate, seemed to savour the taste, before giving him a nod. For whatever reason, she had avoided speaking to him, not even through her telepathic channels, though he hadn't really asked her the reason for it so far.

"What about the rest of your pokémon?" Delia asked, pulling out a scarf to wipe off the mess that Kirlia had created with her own share of cookies with a kerchief. "I never saw anyone after you sent them before boarding the…." Her voice suddenly turned a little frosty, "the cruise ship."

"I… well, you know what happened after that." Ash replied evasively. "It took me some time to get better, and then we went to the forest, and then… Where's Alakazam?" He asked, trying to digress away from the point.

Delia arched an eyebrow. "He's off to Samuel's lab to meet with his Alakazam. The two of them are comparing spoons or something."

Ash snorted at her choice of words. Talk about understated innuendos.

Delia however, wasn't done yet. "I cannot even begin to think what might have happened in Hoenn that _you_ are asking for Kadab-Alakazam in the first place."

"Well, he's still a douchebag," Ash scowled, not liking her dig. "But at least, he's been a good ally and part of the team. Without him, it would be an entirely different story at the Forest."

Delia had a distinct feeling that she wasn't going to like hearing about it in detail. "I need you to tell me everything, but not right now. You have just arrived, so get some rest first. I suppose even Samuel would love to hear about your journey."

 _Of course he would._ Ash sighed mentally, fearing the discussion he was going to have with the professor. Call it instinct, but he had a distinct feeling that Aoi was listening to each and every thought that was flitting through his mind. Wanting to disperse off the topic, he began, "About the rest of my pokémon, so I got a pretty good number of friends after boarding the ship. Aoi here, is simply the most recent addition to the team."

"Is that so?" Delia smiled at the Ninetales, who looked _way too interested_ in biting into the biscuits.

"Yeah, well you know Bagon, he's a Shelgon now. Took upon himself to defeat a rather powerful Electabuzz in the cruise's contest, and evolved mid-battle. Without his timely evolution, I'd have gotten out of the contest pretty early." He paused for a moment. "Then Metang evolved into Metagross, and he's badass. Without him…. Things would have turned a lot worse than they were."

Delia's expression darkened.

"I already told you about Poliwhirl, Rhydon and my Lairon back then, so that's that. And Pidgeot, well—you know what happened to her."

"Samuel was sleepless over it." Delia muttered. "I couldn't believe it when he told me about it." She quietly noted her phone vibrate, but didn't pick it up.

"Yeah… pretty amazing. I should know." Ash muttered, speaking more to himself than to others. "I got myself a Gyarados-"

"What?" Delia literally sprang up from her chair.

"Uh… Mom?"

"Gya—Gyarados? But why? Don't you know how dangerous it is?"

"Hah!" Ash chuckled. "Gyarados is a big softie. You should've seen him around Misty, he's totally mush when she's around. Misty helped me a lot in the first couple of days when he evolved."

"I'll take your word for it." Delia replied, her voice dripping with scepticism, as she sat back down. Her phone vibrated again, but she didn't answer.

"Yeah…" Ash replied lamely, noticing the phone. "Who's calling?"

"It's Samuel. He's been obsessively waiting for your return for some reason. Told me to fetch you sooner if I could. He's wanting you to—never mind." She pressed. "So there's a Misty, is it? Did my Ashy get a girlfriend?"

Ash flushed, embarrassed by her teasing. "Um… no. Misty isn't my girlfriend."

"O-oh…" Delia drawled. "I'm listening."

The raven-haired trainer chagrined. "Well, that's that. So I won the third position, and that qualified me for a mystery pokémon, and she's-"

The phone vibrated again, making Delia scowl. "Wait. Don't tell me."

"Huh?"

Delia stood up from the chair, sighing. "Let's go to the ranch and release them out. Samuel will kill me if I delayed any longer."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

* * *

The elevated tableland that housed the Oak Ranch was perhaps the highest residential ground in all of Pallet, with only Mt. Hideaway being the only higher landmark around. Beyond that were the vast ruins filled with giant boulders and rock that led all the way to Pokemopolis. Professor Oak's ranch, which included his somewhat posh-residence, his surreal and extravagant laboratory and an enormous coral spanning over several acres of grassland. There was also a small pool in the middle of it, for the water-types to relax.

The trainer and his Ninetales followed Delia as she strode through the area, the card in her hand giving her instant access to the roadways and access systems built inside the ranch to guard against nuisances and trespassers. Kirlia had already teleported to the ranch ahead. Finally, reaching the main laboratory, she found Samuel Oak injecting something into a large, purple blob—

 _Was that a Muk?_

"Uh… professor Oak, what are you doing to the Muk?" Ash couldn't help but utter aloud.

"Huh? Oh, Ash." Oak turned, instantly recognizing the voice, as he stood up, allowing the Muk to slowly push itself out of the chamber. "Nothing specific. Just one of my special ingredients to control its putrid smell. I cannot experiment with them with that smell destroying my nose-buds can I?"

Ninetales gave the man a rather questioning look from her vantage point.

"Either way, it is good that you've come here, and oh, a Nine-" Samuel's face was instantly vacated of color as he recognized the color frame on Aoi's tail. It was a good thing that Aoi's eyes glowed a bright vermillion just that moment, almost daring him to mention anything about her particular state out loud. Thankfully, Samuel Oak had enough sense of subtlety to understand her intentions. The sharp look on Ash's face helped matters too.

"—tales… Where did you catch her?"

"It's…. a long story, professor." Ash replied evasively. _You know I think we need to reveal it to him, Aoi._

 _ **But why?**_

 _There are many out there who recognize that particular color scheme, Aoi. You cannot expect to hide it from everyone out there?_

 _ **I can.**_ Aoi's voice ringed in his mind, and almost instantly, the color-scheme on her tail-ends slightly shifted, turning into a mess of crimson and pink- something that denoted that she was capable of _some mystic_ powers, but said nothing about her mastery over it.

A change that didn't go unnoticed by Samuel Oak.

 _Either way, we might need to tell him about it. He's… a good man, and I trust him. Well, more than other anyway. My mom works for him, and he has always helped me…_

 _ **He gave you the Pikachu that nearly killed you.**_

 _Yeah, but it was an honest mistake. Besides, even my experience back at your island could have gotten me killed, but I don't hold it against you, do I?_

Aoi frowned. _**You are a strange individual, Ash Ketchum.**_

 _I have heard that before._ Ash mentally chuckled.

 _ **If you say so.**_ The grumpy tone in her voice revealed her personal impression about his decision.

"I… see." Samuel replied. "Anyway, Ash, there is a lot we _need_ to talk about _later,_ you know… about stuff."

"Why are the two of you being so very evasive?" Delia pointed out.

"Is it about Bill?" Ash suggested, hoping that the professor would be able to catch the hint.

"Uh… yeah. It is about Bill. Speaking of which, let's go to the coral. I'm sure your pokémon need a thorough check-up." Saying that, he pulled up his glasses and walked out of the room towards the coral outside.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, professor Oak."

* * *

Corals in general, served three general purposes. The first was to make sure that trainers were able to send their pokémon to a safe location, when they captured more than six (an understatement, considering that any self-respecting trainer would catch at least twelve pokémon in his first year. After all, there were contests out there, which had a minimum-pokémon requirement level as twelve in order to participate. The second reason was that it allowed pokémon to be vaccinated at proper intervals, and given timely health-check-ups. By extension, it was a security-check to ensure that the pokémon weren't being mistreated or abused by their trainer. The third reason was to ensure that the pokémon were given proper food at all times- a hardship to be faced if a trainer were to keep his pokémon with himself at all times, something Ash would have had to face, if not for the advancements and prize money he had received for his contribution at Commerce City and the prize money for St. Anne.

There was a fourth reason as well. Having a large number of tamed pokémon at a single place allowed the occupation of Pokémon breeders to increase in time. Pokémon breeders were highly knowledgeable, and often researchers themselves, their field of work limited to pokémon breeding. Also, several other industries were built around the concept of pokémon corals. The nutrient-industry for one, always sent its latest production to be _tested_ at corals, and results noted. The dairy-farm industry was, in its own fashion, a coral for a limited set of pokémon species. Often pokémon from a coral would be rented out for some natural labour, which apart from aiding the company requesting their aid, would also provide some good physical development of the coral residents.

That was why almost every city in Kanto had a coral, most of them attached to the respective pokémon center responsible for the city, and while corals had their own breeders who took care of it, the local Gym was in charge of its protection. The coral at Oak Ranch was the largest in Kanto, if not for the Fuchsia Safari (which wasn't really a coral but had a separate wing for that as well). Besides, what self-respecting trainer would miss the chance to have his pokémon looked after by someone as legendary as the great Samuel Oak?

No matter how many times he had laid his eyes on it, the coral had always been a spectacular sight. On the one end, he could see the herds of Nidoran, their pink coloration forming a band as they were led around by giant, purple Nidoking or the bluish, and equally humongous Nidoqueen. Then there were the large mounds of earth, inhabited by dozens of Diglett colonies and their evolutions, with the occasional sand-shrew found running from one side to the other. Ash knew for a fact that the forests along the northern end hosted a great many birds and tree-dwelling grass and bug types (he had once had an episode with a horde of Beedril that had pursued them all the way through the forest. It had all started with the quest for a Poliwag where he had met a girl with a straw hat, during one of Oak's summer camps, but that was a story for another day) and then further east, was where most of the fire-dwellers lived, controlled and supervised by Professor Oak's powerful, battle-hardened Charizard, who happened to be the man's own starter. Oak's Dragonite was rarely seen in the coral, Ash had met him only thrice in his entire life, but the specimen was immense, and a testament to dragons and their legendary strength. He silently wondered what kinds of pokémon his friends Jonathan and Leaf (and Gary, he added reluctantly) had captured over the past couple of months, and how much they had progressed on their journey. With that came the realization that Gary, who had, to Ash's second-hand knowledge, had caught at least forty-five pokémon, and that was months ago.

 _Maybe he's made a century now or something? Wonder what… Paul would have commented on that._ The thought flitted past his mind.

However, that was for later and Professor oak was speaking.

"-and importantly, that Arcanine you sent me has been a major help in looking after the junior herd."

 _Huh?_ Ash thought for a moment, before it hit him. _Harrison's Arcanine. It was still there._

"Wait, let me call him," Oak took out a whistle, and blew it, producing a rather shrill sound that made Ash cringe. Looking at Aoi, she didn't seem too pleased either. However, for someone else, the whistle meant a lot. Someone, who was currently an orange blur in the air, rushing past the coral at breakneck speeds, as he arrived in front of Oak, with so much as panting. With a single glance at Ash, Arcanine realised who he was, and went ahead, licking his face, much to Ash's amusement, and Aoi's… frown.

"He has been really sick and tired of waiting here." Oak explained, rubbing his hand on the dense orange fur on Arcanine's back. "Ever since I told him that you'd be coming, he's become overly excited. Any news on when his trainer is going to take him back?"

Ash frowned, his fingers suddenly pausing over Arcanine's thick fur. "Yeah, about that…"

Samuel arched an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

"Actually…" Ash looked at Arcanine apologetically. "From what I know, Harrison left the sinking ship on his Blastoise the same night when it happened, though it was some time after I lost consciousness. From what Steven told me-"

"Steven?" Oak inquired.

"The former Hoenn Champion, or current Deputy Champion. Steven Stone."

"Right." Samuel interjected. "Go on." He knew that Ash knew Derrick Stone, and that Steven Stone had come into communication with the boy, but the details were still unclear. Maybe a detailed discussion with the boy would put things in order.

"So Steven told me, after I gained consciousness on Mirage Island—that Harrison was spotted going to Little Root town, though he never… reached there."

Oak arched an eyebrow. "You mean?"

Ash looked up. "I mean nothing. He just… disappeared. I asked Steven and Cynthia and they told me that they'd look into the-"

"Cynthia, as in the new Sinnoh Champion?"

Ash nodded.

"You seem to be making acquaintances with a good number of people way up there." Oak mused. "Bill, Steven, Cynthia, and then there is Derrick Stone."

Ash widened his eyes slightly, at his words but said nothing.

"We will be having words later, Ash, and I need the truth. The complete truth." He gave a sideward glance at Aoi. "And I hope you will confide in me with the details."

Ash thought for a moment. "Whatever I can, professor."

Oak stared at his countenance for a moment, as if judging his answer, before nodding. "Very well. You might want to release you pokémon out."

Ash caressed Arcanine's fur, said pokémon whining as it understood that its trainer was missing, and had not arrived yet. "Don't worry. I'm sure Harrison, wherever he is, is pretty fine. He must have… I don't know… got stuck in something, and gotten late. He'll be back before you know it."

It didn't satisfy Arcanine. Ash knew it wouldn't. However, the enormous fire-type would have to do with that consolation for now. His head drooped, Arcanine raced away towards the forests.

"He's going to be pretty silent for some days." Oak comprehended, having had an Arcanine of his own, and knowing her habits pretty well. He turned to Ash. "Release your team."

"Right." Ash held twelve pokeballs in his hand. "Come out, all of you."

Red light inundated the entire area as all the pokémon were liberated out of their respective pokeballs. Pidgeot, regal and powerful, had already taken to the skies by default. Shelgon, Poliwhirl, and Crawdaunt were huddled together, while Magnus was snorting out small amounts of draconic energy out of his nostrils. On the other side, Absol stood regally, with Gengar grinning beside her, a large shadow forming beneath her feet. There was also Zweilous, a little uncomfortable by the gathering around him, but somewhat silent. Behind them, stood Gyarados, ferocious and large, coiled around itself. Rhydon and Lairon had occupied the extreme left.

"A magnificent team." Oak whispered, staring at the rich diversity of pokémon in front of him. "Is this your entire team? I don't think I notice- Where's Metagross?"

Ash grinned. "He's with Steven for private training with his own Metagross. Speaking of which, I need to call him to let him know that I'm back. Metagross must be itching to get back."

"Uh-huh?" Oak silently wondered what kind of acquaintance he had managed to build with the former Champion to be allowed private training with their personal team.

"And then there are two more in the team, but it isn't really a good idea to release them here. Might cause… issues."

"And Ninetales?" Oak questioned.

"Aoi." Ash corrected.

"Aoi, right." Oak repeated.

"She joined me on my way home. Alakazam, Absol, Gengar and Magnus—they know about her." Ash answered, idly realizing that he had yet to introduce Aoi to the rest of his team, and from the way Absol was glaring at Aoi, he should do so as soon as possible to avoid further… complications.

 _ **I don't think she likes me a lot.**_

 _I'm pretty sure that's optimistic on your part._

"Right." Oak declared. "I need all your pokémon to be checked up first. We can deal with the other two of your team privately later on."

"Sure." Ash muttered. "Thanks professor."

Oak waved it away. "No worries. Just send them one by one when I call for you. Will that do?"

"Sure thing." Ash grinned, an expression that vanished instantly as he turned towards his team, a natural reaction considering that Gengar, Magnus, and importantly Absol were outright glaring at Aoi, who seemed one step away from flaring her tails outward to defend (or attack back) against any hostilities that might arise from Ash's team.

"Uh… guys?" Ash faltered. "Can we just talk this over?"

Magnus let out an enraged growl, while Gengar's eyes glowed ominously. However, that was nothing compared to Absol, who looked ready to tear Aoi into pieces, the horn on her head now concentrated with swirling, dark energy.

 _I guess not._

Sighing, he slowly walked sideward, standing in front of Aoi, much to the shock of either party. From the growls given to him by those standing in front, they were both befuddled and aggravated by his behaviour. As far as Aoi was concerned, she had already seen this particular attribute of her trainer, but to go against his own team to secure her protection…

 _It is almost like he has a fetish of proving me wrong every day._ The Ninetales mused inwardly, her bond with her trainer strengthening.

"Guys, if you act like this, then I have nothing to say." The raven-haired trainer stated in a solemn voice. His stare stayed fixed at Gengar and Magnus for a second longer than Absol, who immediately fell silent, much to Absol's consternation.

"Absol, I know you care about me, but Aoi is part of the team now. Whatever she did, is in the past. She is a part of the team now, and I would request all of you to acknowledge her as well." He paused. "Can you do that? For me?"

Absol continued to glare at Aoi, who had stopped glaring back and was instead looking at Ash's back, an inscrutable stare in her eyes.

"Please?"

Absol let out a piteous whine, before looking away.

Ash chuckled and dropped to his knees. "Come here."

Almost in unison, Absol rushed in towards his person, her now softened horn rubbing against his shirt, as she rubbed her face against his chest, almost viciously. Her trainer chuckled as he caressed her pristine, white fur, whispering softly. "I'm glad you understand." Almost in reaction, Magnus walked forward, giving Ash a shoulder-hug, before snorting out loud.

 _Me and my crazy team._ Ash mused.

After a couple of moments of staying together, he got up, as the others stepped away. "Anyway, time for a couple of notices. First, I am finally home."

That was met with a cacophony of agreeable voices from his team.

"This, is Professor Oak's coral. Some of you," he glanced at Poliwhirl, Shelgon and Pidgeot- "might remember it." A quick remembrance told him that even Rhyhorn had been sent here, though after his evolution to Rhydon, there was a good chance that he wouldn't remember it. Rhydon was more into action, developing his own strength and shaking the earth. He remembered who his trainer was, and who his friends were, and that was all that mattered to him.

"Anyway, so we are going to stay here for a while, and then continue on our journey. The professor will be checking you up and treating your injuries from now on, and well- he should be calling us in one by one any moment now. I expect you not to cause any trouble."

The facial expressions of Gengar and Poliwhirl didn't boost up his confidence about the statement. At all.

"I know we've trained quite a lot for a while, so for the next two days, there is only going to be relaxing and fun. No training."

Rhydon let out an earthquake at the announcement. Then again, creating earthquakes was more along the lines of fun for him anyway.

"Yeah…" Ash laughed at the excitement. "Speaking of which," he turned towards Gengar. "I know you had your talk with Trevenant, and well… Dusclops is… you know."

Gengar's grin deepened.

"I am going to release Trevenant and Dusclops, and talk to them on Mount Hideaway later, during the evening. I was wondering if you, and Absol would like to accompany me there."

Something pulled his shirt from behind.

It was Magnus and Shelgon.

"What is it, Magnus, Shelgon?"

Magnus began growling, and making all kinds of animated hand gestures, one that included multiple indications towards Gengar and the pokeball belt.

"You two want to join in as well?"

"Char!" "Gon!"

"Great." Ash chirped. "The more the merrier, but we do not want the whole group there. So it's going to be just the four of you."

 _ **I wish to be there as well.**_

Ash frowned. _I think it would be better if you skipped this one, Aoi. We don't want to increase the barely calmed-down animosity. Give them a little time._

Aoi grumbled, but didn't voice any further disagreement.

 _Besides, you can use the time to interact with Kirlia. You know… an all psychic-party? Alakazam would probably join in._

Aoi rolled her eyes.

"Ash?" It was Professor Oak's voice.

"Yeah, professor?" he spun back, to see Oak standing at the door.

"You may send them in, one at a time now."

"Sure, professor." He paused. "Um… professor Oak, can I use your PC Console for a while?"

Oak arched an eyebrow. "Sure."

"Great." Ash muttered excitedly. "All right, Rhydon, you are first. And then onwards, you will be going in after the previous one is finished. Magnus? Pidgeot? You two are in charge. Make sure that no one creates a commotion. We want the coral to stay in one piece while I go make a phone call, alright?"

Magnus puffed his chest outward with pride, letting out a snort. Pidgeot simply rolled her eyes at his declaration.

Ash chagrined at her reaction, but didn't let it dampen his enthusiasm.

 _ **Where are you going?**_

 _To get one of my oldest friends back. He's been away for a while._

Aoi wondered if she should accompany him, but before she could voice her thoughts, her trainer had already sprinted away.

* * *

"All right, let's get this going." Ash mumbled to himself, and he selected Steven's contact number from his Pokenav and gave him a call. After four rings, the screen flashed as Steven's face was visible on the other side.

"Hey Ash, took quite some time to call." Steven replied from the other side. By the looks of it, the man seemed a little out of breath.

Ash grinned. "Just reached home today. You told me to call after I reach home."

"I did." Steven panted. By the sounds of it, he was walking ahead.

"Uh… what's going on?" Ash asked, a little worried.

"Nothing more than the usual" The silver-haired man chuckled. "Anyway, I presume you want Metagross back?"

Ash grinned in excitement. "Yeah, of course. How did the training go?"

Steven shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I dropped him off at the Beldum Colony in Rustburo City, with my oldest friend."

"Your oldest friend?"

"My starter Metagross. You haven't seen him yet."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said that the Metagross you had was your strongest."

"Strongest, yes. Not the most versatile. My oldest, mostly spends his time with the Beldum Colony, but you don't want to know all that. Anyway, it was nice that you called. Hang on. Let me connect to the Colony."

The screen blanked out for an entire minute before the audio and visual was back on. "Yeah, it is done. Your Metagross should be arriving any time now."

"So you do not know what Metagross did for all these days?" Ash asked, a little downcast.

"Not really." Steven answered in all honesty. "My oldest took over the training part. Between the two of us, I often worry who is the trainer and who's the pokémon."

Ash chuckled.

"Either way, I must say congratulations."

"Huh? What for?" Ash asked, befuddled.

Steven arched an eyebrow. "Don't say you've already forgotten. Cynthia would be devastated. She and I had a long conversation, after all." He wagged his eyebrows.

Ash flushed.

"Well done, kid. I knew you had it in you." Steven teased. "I suppose you deserve a gift for manning up."

Ash nearly choked on that. From what he remembered, it was Cynthia that took the initiative, not him.

"Do you have a PC Console nearby?"

"Uh—Yeah, I do." Ash stammered.

"Good. I'm sending you the incoming code. Set it ready for transfer."

Ash checked out the code and did as required. The transfer unit released a single item—a tiny metallic contraption, which he knew was a folded-space vessel, used for transferring multiple objects. He had a bigger one with him in his backpack.

Picking it up, and clicking on the release button, he waited as the contraption let out a tiny hiss, revealing the contents within. One was a red and white pokeball, which he had been expecting. The other, it seemed was a little gift-wrapped package.

"What's the other thing?" He asked, out of curiosity.

"101 things to try in bed." Steven replied, keeping a straight-face.

Ash nearly choked at that. "What?"

"Just kidding." Steven laughed uproariously. "It is a gift, well, from my Uncle really. As much as I would like to say that I sent it, it was my Uncle that asked me to deliver a copy to you."

"What's it about?"

"Check it yourself."

Without delay, Ash tore open the package, revealing the rather thick tome within.

 **A compendium on Metagross. By Derrick Stone.**

"This is…" Ash mumbled.

"Written by my uncle. Widely acclaimed as the foremost expert on Metagross. He told me that you should have it. If I were you, I'd commit every line to memory. In fact," he grinned, "I already do."

"I will." Ash smiled warmly, holding the precious gift in his left hand, as he picked out the much more precious item- the pokeball that held his friend—with the other.

"I suppose this is goodbye for now. See you soon, I suppose, and take care."

Ash wanted to talk a little more, but he supposed that the Deputy Champion already had much to deal with, than to be bothered with his own, so he just nodded. The screen blanked out almost instantly, as he switched off the Pokedex, returning it to his pocket.

With a grin, he regarded the pokeball in his hand. Not wanting to wait any longer, he lifted it up, and clicked on the release button.

Red light inundated the area, as Metagross condensed into shape. The large, blackened-blue steel appendages on either end levitating in the air, with his dark red eyes peering past the large X in the middle of his face, Metagross let out a large, rumbling declaration.

"Meta….!"

Ash grinned.

 _ **It is nice to see you again, trainer Ash.**_

"Welcome back, buddy."

* * *

It turned out that he was simply worrying too much. The check-ups had gone without a hitch, and the professor had given him a green signal about the status of his pokémon, with all of them being perfectly fine and in top-condition. He had feared that there might have been some form of tampering with Zweilous, whom Cynthia had declared a pseudo-growlithe, but it turned out that his hostile nature had been somewhat dumbed down by being part of a pack before it was captured—a rare thing, but it was nonetheless true. Oak had taken up several blood samples for further analysis, but maintained his theory over it.

Even Aoi, who had literally trapped herself inside that hellhole for centuries seemed to be physically fine, though her mental state was obviously a question, and Ash was hardly going to question on it. For all intents and purposes, she was good to go.

"All right, Ash." Oak began softly. "It is clear that your pokémon are in top-condition. I think it is time we address the other two pokémon that you have been holding back. Are you going to release them here?"

"Uh… actually I was thinking of releasing them on Mount Hideaway. It's big and shady and they are both ghost-types."

"Mount Hideaway? That would take a long time. I'd rather do it somewhere in the forests over there."

Ash almost paled at the prospect. "No forest please. Not yet anyway."

Samuel Oak looked at him with a scrutinizing expression for a moment. "Very well." Raising his voice, he yelled. "Alakazam?"

Almost instantly, the man's Alakazam arrived on spot. Just from one look, the differences between him and his mom's Alakazam were distinct. For one, he was much taller, and his teleportation didn't accompany the sudden surge of light that Ash had become familiar with over the last couple of days. There was little to no reaction time as well, almost like he was doing it stealthily.

 _Guess that's what you expect from an Elite-level pokémon._

"All right. Are you ready?" Oak asked the raven-haired trainer, who made sure that he had all of his pokeballs with him.

Ash nodded.

"Take us to the peak." That was all that Oak needed to say.

And just like that, they appeared on Mount Hideaway. There was no sudden speed-movement, no flash of light, no feeling of being twisted around—it was like one moment he was there at the coral, and the other moment, the scenery in front of him had shifted without his knowledge.

"Release one of them first."

"There is something I should do first, Professor." Ash muttered, releasing Gengar and Absol out of their respective pokeballs. The Gengar drawled out her own name, while Absol simply stayed, poised and ready to attack at a moment's notice. After a pause, he released Magnus and Shelgon as well, remembering his promise. The two pokémon materialized, and realizing the situation, instantly developed a defensive stance.

"If this is about the ghost-type, then you do not need to worry about type-advantage, Ash." Oak informed him. "Alakazam is more than capable of taking on ghost-types, if that is what you are worried about."

"It's not exactly that, Professor, but I'll tell you about that later." Ash stated calmly, before plucking out Trevenant's pokeball out of his belt. "Please let me handle this."

Oak arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Instead, he calmly stepped back, allowing the trainer to handle his pokémon.

Ash took a deep breath. "All right. Trevenant. Come out."

The ultraball opened with an audible pop, releasing the elder tree pokémon, who let out a roar, as he stared at Ash a haunting expression on his face. Almost in reaction, Gengar's eyes began to glow a deep red, as ghostly energies began to swirl around her claws.

Ash breathed. _So far so good._

"Trevenant," Ash spoke calmly. "I released you out so that you can get your vitals checked. I need your word that you will not be causing any form of damage to the professor's laboratory when I send you there."

Trevenant's expression didn't change.

Ash took a step forward. "We have already been past the initial murder-attempt twice, and both times you have been defeated."

Trevenant snorted at that, the lone, red eye on his head glowing ominously.

"Listen." Ash took another step forward. "I am not a part of Team Rocket. Yes, those are the ones who attacked the forests and captured all the Phantump, and the rest of the Trevenant. You know what will happen to them? They will be enslaved and be used for sinister purposes."

"I am, not like them. Me and my team helped Gengar and the rest to fight against Team Rocket."

Trevenant snorted at that. Fat lot of good this human and his team were, if they couldn't manage to save a single Phantump from those monsters.

"I know we failed." Ash spoke in a little lower tone. "But that doesn't mean that we aren't going to do anything about it. My team and I, and that includes Gengar- we are going to become stronger and rescue the Phantump back."

Trevenant raised his appendages up in the air in a threatening fashion, before slamming the two ends down on the ground. The statement was well-made and clearly received.

 _Beat it._

"Really?" Ash changed tracks. "And what do you think you'd do in my place? If I am weak, then what does that make you?"

Trevenant looked enraged.

"Back then on the forest, you tried to kill me. I can understand that, since I had been the one to step into your dominion and captured you against your will. We were in a forest, your own dominion, and then, _one_ Draco meteor was enough to end your game."

He took another step forward. "Gengar here explained the situation to you, _multiple times,_ and still you stay adamant over your pitiful pride."

Trevenant growled.

"I told you back then, that if you become a part of the team, then I will help you become much more powerful. You refused. Multiple times. From the way it looks, you are just awfully cocky for someone who got beaten over and over, by my team."

Trevenant roared, his appendages sinking deep into the ground, as they shot out, a few inches close to Ash, shooting to impale him, which they would, if not for the shadow claw and psycho cut—from Gengar and Absol respectively, had not sliced away the shaft from the ground, much to the elder tree's groan.

"You tried to kill me again?" Ash whispered in a cold voice, one that even surprised his fellow pokémon. "Listen here. I caught you. My team beat you. Multiple times. But you do not seem to grasp that fact, so I will make it easier for you." He sneered. "Today onwards, I am going to release you every single day. Every single day you will try to kill me, and every single day my team will wipe the floor with you. Either you can do that, or you can just stop being disagreeable and join me."

He sensed that Trevenant might attack him again, but some reason, the attack never came.

He waited for another minute, staring at the elder tree pokémon.

No attack came.

"I need you word, Trevenant, that you will n0t attack Professor Oak or cause any damage to him or his property. Mind you, if you do, I will unleash my entire team on you, beat you unconscious, return you into your pokeball, and then bury it inside the forest nearby. That way you can stay in _your_ dominion, trapped forever,"

That did sound ominous, even for Trevenant.

"I need, your word."

Trevenant uttered out an unwilling growl.

Ash lifted the ultraball. "Return." A shaft of red light hit the elder tree from the ultraball, sucking him inside. Finally done, he let out a sigh, as he turned towards the professor.

"That was dramatic." Samuel commented, though considering the stare in his old, icy blue eyes, the man was hardly trying to be funny or sarcastic.

Ash shrugged. "Sometimes it's honey, sometimes its vinegar."

"True." The man, who had his elbows crossed, stared at him. "That was very well handled, Ash. I have seen more experienced trainers falter in this regard. If you can keep this attitude up, evolution shouldn't be a problem for you."

Ash arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean, professor?"

"Most pokémon, on evolution, are granted a significant rise in strength, physical, mental and spiritual. Once that happens, they are able to introspect their own lives so far, and by extension, their life with their trainer. Often, these fully-evolved pokémon find that their trainer has been hardly satisfactory enough."

"But the trainer has trained them enough to evolve, so shouldn't that count?" Ash challenged.

"Not necessarily. Your Metang evolved into Metagross just to win you a battle, from what you told me back on Mirage Island. You may find, on asking Metagr0ss, that in hindsight, it was an act of immaturity. However, from what I understand, you tried to return him mid-battle, and not coerce him to evolve. That _is_ significant for Metagross, and that proves to him that you are mature enough for him to abide by your command."

"Oh." It was a humbling realization.

"This situation is often faced by trainers raising fire-types, with Charizard being the prime example. More than often, on evolution to Charizard, the pokémon declare their trainer as immature and unfit, going so far as to attack them back. I don't need to tell you the number of… unfortunate incidents that happen to trainers. Do I?"

Ash swallowed. "No, you don't, professor Oak."

Samuel nodded.

Ash looked away, wondering if Magnus would also decide along similar lines when he evolved into Charizard. So far, Metagross had been quite… content with having him as his trainer. Absol didn't evolve, and he had caught Crawdaunt, and Gengar in their fully-evolved forms. Gyarados… so far there had been no issues raised. But would it stay the same? That thought brought him to think about the other members of his team? Would Shelgon think that he had not paid enough attention on him?

"Ash?"

Oak's voice shook him from his reveries.

"… Yeah, Professor?"

"Stop second-guessing things. You are a good trainer, and if you realize that you are making mistakes, then simply address it now. It will smoothen things up in the future."

Ash mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, when he felt something poke his shirt from behind.

It was Shelgon, and Magnus.

"Hey guys!"

Shelgon drawled out his name, before licking his face, much to his amusement, and to some extent, happiness. That one simple act, did wonders to boost up his confidence.

"I promise you all, I will try to be the best trainer ever."

Absol stepped forward and nudged him with her horn, while Gengar simply grinned from her position.

"Now the other pokémon if you please?" Oak requested. "I really need to get back to my lab."

"Right." Ash replied, a little embarrassed. "Well then, here goes." He plucked out the other ultraball. "Come out, Dusclops."

The red light condensed as the overly large specimen of the Dusclops-species manifested in front of them. Usually, a Dusclops was around five to six feet in height. The one in front of them stood a whooping seven feet, a rather large size for its own kin. Without a single sound, Dusclops just stood there, motionless.

"Well… that's one large Dusclops, I must say." Oak replied, his voice a little strained, as his mind wondered why in hell this specimen was so overly large in size.

"He's a bit taller than average." Ash mumbled, "But that's not the only thing about him."

"What do you mean?"

Ash took a deep breath as he reminisced the incident that had happened when he had released it out for the first time. It had been two days after Cynthia had left for Sinnoh.

 _Magnus had barely survived…_ He remembered the ominous situation, as he felt a shudder within him. Trevenant he could understand, but Dusclops was an entirely different thing altogether.

"I… caught him in the Forest of Illusions. He belonged to one of the Rocket Executives, and was very injured in the battle. That… man," Ash gritted his teeth, "had literally arranged a situation that could kill our side, including Dusclops… in a sacrificial attack."

Oak paled.

"However, Kadabra's timely evolution saved me and everyone else."

Oak didn't know what to say.

"Gengar and the others were about to kill her, but I captured Dusclops before it was too late."

A little further away, Gengar growled ominously. It was an odd sensation. Almost in unison, Magnus's claws had begun to extend outward.

"Anyway, when I released Dusclops for the first time… she's… she was just like this. All motionless and still. She even obeyed my commands, when I told her that I captured her and that she was a part of the team, she was still like this- almost like she's _programmed_ to obey commands."

Oak arched an eyebrow. "And?" He was simply waiting for the bomb to drop.

"Well, even that was okay. The problem when she's… you know, battling. She just loses all sense of self, and gets this… _murderous,_ with every single passing minute. Magnus would have been killed if not for Gengar and Absol."

"What happened after she was stopped?"

Ash drooped his shoulders. "Back to this state. All calm, robotic and motionless."

Oak considered it, a frown forming on his face. "A pokémon devoid of any emotional behaviour, that turns downright murderous in battle. Sounds like a tool for a psychopath."

"The Rocket Executive was using her, along with a Magmortar, who didn't seem to register pain, like… at all."

The frown deepened. "What happened to the Magmortar?"

Gengar grinned ominously.

"He was… killed, in the explosion. Alakazam redirected the explosion towards Magmortar, and trapped him with psychic shields. The pressure…" Ash drawled out, not really wanting to describe it any further.

Oak closed his eyes. "I can only wonder the strenuous condition that must have prompted him to go to that length." He opened his eyes. "Return him."

Without a word, Ash returned Dusclops back into the ultraball, before handing over the two ultraballs to Oak, who put them away safely into his robes. "Don't worry. I will make sure that we find out what makes Dusclops behave like that."

Ash nodded.

"It is time for us to return back." Oak declared.

"If you don't mind, professor. I'd like to stay back for a while."

"Here?" Oak arched an eyebrow.

"Need to take care of some… stuff." Ash muttered. He glanced at his belt, all of his pokeballs locked on it. It was not like he would have to worry about any of his pokémon causing trouble at the coral or anything.

"As you wish." Oak muttered, turning to Alakazam whose eyes glowed brightly, teleporting him away.

"Well…" Ash muttered to himself, "that went well. Now only if I-"

" _Chuuuuuuu!"_

An enormous web of lightning literally tore its way into the sky, followed by another, and then another. From his vantage point, Ash presumed that it was an electric-type battling with another pokémon, somewhere in the depths of the forests that lined Mt. Hideaway. He had hardly turned towards Magnus when a streak of lightning raced its way towards him from the depths of the forest, only for Magnus to jump in, and deflect the attack with a powerful dragon claw.

"What was that?" Ash yelled, poised defensively. Almost as if on cue, Gengar, and Absol literally teleported in front of him, while Shelgon came to him at his own speed.

"If it isn't the loser," an extremely familiar and hated voice drawled out, much to Ash's annoyance, as the person's visage was now visible, walking up to the hill. "No wonder even my _Raichu_ could smell _defeat_ in the air."

"Raa-ai!" Said Raichu in question sent out little sparks of electricity from the red pouches on his cheek.

"You remember him, don't you?" The hated _rival_ of Ash Ketchum stood in front of him, a large Raichu standing beside, looking just as smug as its owner. "I'm told he nearly sent you off the bridge when you tried to _convince_ him at the lab."

Raichu snorted.

 _Pika… Chu…_ Ash thought inwardly, staring at the evolved version of the electric mouse that he had once tried to make his starter.

"I caught him when I returned when I got home for my birthday gift. Grandpa told me all about your disastrous episode. My little buddy was laughing his ass off at that. Tried to shock me too, but I showed him what a real trainer was like. He's been my buddy since then."

"Rai!" Said buddy gloated.

"So… finally decided to quit, did ya Ash?" The grandson of Samuel Oak, and Ash's long-time rival taunted him, arching an eyebrow.

"Gary." Ash muttered slowly.

* * *

 **AN: And Gary enters the story. What do you think of my direction with Pikachu, eh? Thought it would be poetic and everything. Anyway, that was the chapter.**

 **Time to answer reviews.**

 **First, Straight Elf, many thanks. Will be glad to hear what you think about the story in detail.**

 **H. Gells, you are right about the Giratina reference. Nicely spotted.**

 **Green, Blue and Yellow? I don't think so, but hey, nobody seen the future right?**

 **How did Alakazam teleport in the end? Simple. The stone-room, unlike the rest of the castle, was not surrounded by the distortion. It was the only place that he could teleport.**

 **Ash shouldn't have caught Ninetales because she's more powerful than his team? I… am not sure how that works, but I will take that into consideration anyway.**

 **Calling Cynthia? Sorry, that was once a week, if I remember it right.**

 **I'm not sure if saying that Ninetales has a century's worth of skill. She has been trapped in a hellhole, which is not really a good thing. And that too for centuries. If anything, she is the one who needs help in certain things.**

 **Training? You'll get that too. Don't worry.**

 **Okay, that was all. If you liked the chapter, please put in a review. Thanks.**


	24. Rival

Gary Oak, the grandson of Professor Oak had once been Ash's best friend, back when they used to be little kids. As they grew up, Gary developed a mean streak and began to establish himself as the big bully of the town—the only unfortunate fact being that he actually had the skills to prove his mettle, even back then in school. Top in the class, top in pokémon theory and stats, and Ash's own contender when it came to practical battling using simulators.

And then _that incident_ happened.

Ash had never really known _anything_ about his own father, not even his name. His mother, being an assistant researcher herself, didn't really suffer from financial troubles. Besides, from what he had guessed, the restaurant that belonged to them, was actually his father's, one that he had gifted his mother before… leaving. And irrespective of how much he would have liked to believe, he knew very well that the restaurant went a long way in establishing financial prosperity to his little family.

Delia Ketchum however, despite being the world's best mom, went seemingly silent whenever Ash had inquired about his father- that, or she would start weeping. Over the years, little Ash had slowly come to associate anything linked to his father, as something of an anathema—not to be spoken in front of his mom. Delia seemed happy to ignore the absence of a father in Ash's life, and not wanting to spoil it, Ash had readily decided to pretend the same.

He had often wondered why his father had left him and his mom. From whatever bits and pieces he could gather, his father wasn't _exactly_ a bad person or anything, and considering that he had willingly transferred the rights to the restaurant to Delia's name—Ash didn't think that his father was a cold-hearted bastard as well. Then why did he leave? His mother had once told him, back when he was a child, that his father was a great man, and a great trainer, who went separate ways of because of personal reasons. The more cynical part of him often wondered (or dare he admit it, feared) that _he_ was the reason why his father had deserted his mother.

And then he had come across a single pokeball, one that looked slightly old-fashioned, what with the strange gold and silver colouring instead of the usual red and white- inside the store room. Also, there was this strange inscription on it, one that could be roughly called a G and a S. When Delia had witnessed him holding it, she had downright panicked and told Ash to throw it away, which he did. However, that didn't stop him from getting it back from the trash later in the day, and hide it safely in a drawer.

The next day, he had taken it to school to observe the strange pokeball in detail. For some unexplainable reason, a part of him had stuck to the half-baked conclusion that the pokeball (coined GS ball according to his little mind), had belonged to his father once, and despite all the rage, and all the confusion he had over his father's departure, little Ash Ketchum had clenched to this lone item that he _believed,_ belonged to his father.

And that was where Gary Oak had found him, staring at the odd-looking pokeball.

As was common with his behaviour, Gary had snatched the GS ball from his hand, an action that had resulted in a simulator battle between himself and a rather indignant Ash Ketchum. The match had ended in a draw.

And then Gary had done something that in Ash's mind, was simply unforgivable.

" _It was a draw, and that means… that we both won the match by halves. The prize should be halved as well, don't you agree?" He tore open the GS Ball into two halves, tossing the top part to Ash, while putting the other half inside his own pocket. "Smell ya later, loser."_

That was the day when Ash had lost a friend, and gained a rival, or should he say it, a nemesis, one he had sworn to defeat and humiliate in the future.

And that brought him back to the present.

"Hello Gary," He clenched his fists. "What do you want?"

His rival had a cocky smirk on his face. "Oh you know, my fingers are itching to humiliate you in a battle. I missed that chance when I started out for my journey, no thanks to your… convenient accident with this little buddy of mine."

Raichu let out little sparks of electricity from his pouches, his long tail beating against the grassy floor.

"So what do ya say, Ashy boy? Want to know how it feels to battle a real trainer? Let's have a match, right here, one on one, I'll even go easy on you."

A part of Ash's mind couldn't help but admire the symmetry of the workings of the universe. He had once tried to become Gary's best friend, and Gary had backstabbed him in return. He had tried to make Pikachu his starter, ignoring the fact that he wanted a Charmander, and Pikachu too, had meted out a similar reaction like his present trainer.

And now both of them were together, taunting him.

It was almost poetic.

And he gave the answer.

"No."

Silence.

"Huh?" Gary asked, slightly off-guard. "Ash Ketchum is saying no to a pokémon battle? Did I hear that right? What? Did seeing this little tyke remind you of your abysmal failure?"

Ash's countenance betrayed nothing. Even Magnus, Gengar and Absol, who were distinctly glaring at Gary, seemed slightly surprised by Ash's expression.

Gary arched an eyebrow. "Nothing to say?" He paused, waiting as a couple of seconds trickled past. "Well Raichu, I think Ashy boy here's too scared to speak. Let's go battle some real trainers."

"Rai!" Raichu agreed, lashing his tail on the ground in agreement, as Gary turned back to walk downhill.

"I won't battle you here, Gary."

Gary spun around. "Eh? Ashy boy can speak too? So, what is it, you are too scared to battle now, so you'll challenge me after a few months?" He sneered. "I got six badges, already. I bet you don't have half of it."

Ash smiled. "Just three."

"See?" Gary drawled.

Ash didn't give in to his anger. Instead, he went full _Paul_ on him, smiling peacefully through his eyes.

"I don't want to battle you here. Let's meet at the Ranch, say… after an hour. We'll do an official six on six battle. Surely you want to prove the professor how… _talented_ you are, don't you?"

That… paused Gary in his tracks.

"A six on six battle eh? Are you sure you can handle _that_ much humiliation? You know right that Mrs. Ketchum will be there as well at the ranch?"

Ash didn't reply, as he stared at Gary for a confirmation.

"Well, it's your funeral." Gary replied exuberantly, lifting off a single pokeball, and tossing it from his hand up to the air and back, as he turned around and walked off downhill, an excited Raichu following his tracks.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ash let out a sigh, turning towards his pokémon, who were staring at him in a mix of confusion and surprise. "I'd say that went better than I anticipated."

He took out Metagross's pokeball. It was time to see _just_ how much his friend had gained from his training.

* * *

Exactly an hour later, a calm and composed Ash Ketchum, accompanied by a gleaming Ninetales sauntered their way to the Oak Ranch, only to be met by an excited and unbearably-conceited Gary Oak, who was ready, standing by the trainer's position on one end of the battle-pitch that Oak had kept at the back of his yard, usually for young trainers to battle. He could see the old professor standing in the centre, with his mum sitting on one of the benches under the canopy of the Pecha-berry trees lining the grounds.

He had still to come to a conclusion about how he felt about Professor Oak sharing about his… incident with Pikachu with his own grandson, but then again, his experiences growing-up without a father had left him slightly jaded when it came to expecting from people. The conversation with Cynthia had only hit it deeper.

"A Ninetales, eh?" Gary leered, walking up to Ash. "That's a rare pokémon. You are putting her to battle against my team, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Ash asked, a little off-guard. "No, not really. Ninetales doesn't like to battle."

"Pfft!" Gary sneered. "You must really be pitiful if you cannot even convince your pokémon to battle for you. Then again, I'm not surprised… what with Pikachu and all."

"Gary, that's enough." Samuel spoke, and his tone wasn't the usual, docile one. Instead, Ash could feel _steel_ in it, reminding himself that this docile, old man was a former Elite.

"Ash here has full right to choose his pokémon for the battle. Which pokémon shall battle, is completely his own choice, not yours." The old professor barked. "I suggest you go to your position."

Gary didn't move.

"Now!"

Gary sneered and stepped back into position.

Aoi looked up at Ash and gave him a rather queer look.

 _ **Do you want me to battle?**_

 _Do you wish to?_

 _ **Not really.**_

 _Then don't. My team is more than enough to deal with this pest._

Aoi looked thoughtful, before she nodded, looking back at Gary curiously, as Ash stood over his designated position.

"Ash," the old professor asked, his tone curious, "Where _you_ the one to challenge Gary for a full six-on-six battle?"

Ash nodded without a word. He didn't know _how_ Gary had twisted his words. Truth be told, he didn't care.

"Are you sure? I thought you said you wanted your pokémon to rest for the next two days."

"I had a talk with them… and they don't mind it. It is one match, after all."

Oak stared at him with a calculating expression, before stepping back. "Very well, I'll be refereeing this battle."

"Thanks a bunch, grandpa." Gary yelled from his position. "You ready to face defeat, Ashy Boy?"

Said trainer, on the other hand, only had eyes for the woman on the bench, who stared back at him with a soft smile and a nod.

He nodded back, before turning to Gary. "Rules?"

"This will be a six-on-six battle." The old professor intoned loudly. "Substitutions are allowed. Trainers are not allowed to use any items or enhancers during the battle. The match will end when all six pokémon are unable to battle for either trainer."

Ash nodded calmly, as he plucked out his first choice. _Rule number one,_ he reminded himself of Cynthia's battle strategy. _A rookie would say choosing first is a mistake because the opponent gains the chance of a type advantage. A professional would say that it makes you look confident, which goes way ahead to set the pace of successive battles._

He turned his cap around, as he sent the ultraball to the floor. "I choose you, Absol."

Absol appeared on the field, her pristine white fur shining bright, even though the sky was remarkably cloudy. She raised her horn high up, as if in challenge.

"An Absol, huh? Wonder how you managed to get that one." Gary sneered. "But you are not the only one who's got foreign pokémon." He lifted up a pokeball and raised it. "Go, Mightyena."

 _A dark-type vs another. This will be interesting._ Ash mused.

A part of him couldn't help but admire how very complementary the two battlers were. Mightyena and Absol, both true dark types, and yet, while the former had an overgrowth of black fur all over, the latter was pristine white. Mightyena worked best in packs, while Absol were, in essence, loners. The former were vicious attackers while the latter were at best, neutral when it came to starting a fight.

"All right," Gary moved ahead, "Mightyena, show him your strength. Use take down and follow fire fang."

Ash didn't say anything. _Rule number two. Training pokémon doesn't mean teaching them skills. A TM could do that more effectively than a trainer. Training pokémon means getting them the experience to make their own decisions mid-battle._ With the amount of training Absol had undergone against the rest of the team, she instinctively knew what to do in such situations. Ash forcing his will on her would only hinder that.

The moment Mightyena came closer, Absol's eyes glowed brightly, as she disintegrated into several illusory forms of herself, surrounding Mightyena in a circle, completely breaking down his momentum, before stabbing her forelimbs onto the ground, raising fragments of the earth upward, as she jumped backwards, clearly trapping Mightyena in her own version of Rock Tomb.

Ash held a small smile on his face. It had taken quite some time back there on Sulphur Island, but it was good to see Absol being able to use the attack so quickly and in conjunction with Double-team. For all intents and purposes, Mightyena was effectively trapped inside the rock-tomb, created all around him.

"Huh?" Gary snarled, "Mightyena get out of it, and use hyper beam!"

It wasn't so easy. Rock Tomb had literally held Mightyena captive and breaking out of it would require something along the lines of Rock Smash, or a powerful Earthquake, and by the looks of it, Mightyena knew neither. Instead, it raised his head upward and began to conjure a hyper beam, and from the likes of it, was using his entire strength behind it.

Ash smiled.

The hyper beam came in.

"Dodge and use iron tail."

Absol wasn't one for built for speed. However, her reflexes were superlative, especially when it came to dodging and coming back with a counter. She narrowly leapt off the ground, missing the hyper beam by several inches, as she slammed her tail, now shining brightly on Mightyena's head, as the other dark-type let out a groan, as its face was slammed into the ground.

"Return Mightyena." Gary scowled, not wanting to keep Mightyena there any further since it was clear that Absol had the upper hand. "Beginner's luck, Ashy boy. Don't think it was anything else."

"Of course." Ash replied calmly, something that he was sure would get to Gary's nerves faster than anything. Gary's technique had always been to anger the opponent, and hopefully, make stupid mistakes. Keeping a cool head in this situation, not only countered that, but also redirected the effect back on Gary, who was now vividly angry.

"All right, Ashy boy, let's see you face this one. Go, Heracross."

The large, blue, winged, bipedal beetle pokémon appeared in front of Absol, who maintained her offensive stance.

 _A Heracross huh? A bug/fighting type. I must have pushed Gary too far for him to resort to type-advantage now._ A small smile played on his face. Absol's dark nature was at a disadvantage here, but she had plenty of tricks under her fur to deal with this one.

"Say Absol, are you willing to battle the bug or take some rest?"

Absol lifted her horn up in the air, showing her intention clearly.

 _Very well._

"Heracross, use horn attack." Gary began.

"Psycho cut." Ash muttered, as Absol sent out a powerful slash of psychic energy towards the bug-type, which collided with Heracross, destroying his momentum.

"Use Rock tomb and then use your _trick_."

Absol let out a tiny grunt in agreement, as her eyes began to glow. Soon after, she raised her forelimbs, and slammed them down to the ground, creating an entire barrage of rocks that shot out of the ground, trying to capture Heracross within its confines.

"Fly up." Gary ordered, as Heracross did the same. "Now use Mega horn."

Ash however, had eyes only for Absol, and from the looks of it, she was done. "Use double team and negate the attack."

Absol followed the commands to the letter, as Heracross had to cancel out Mega horn, being surrounded by illusory forms of Absol all around it.

"Uh… I'm tired of your cloak and dagger, Ashy boy. Heracross. Use focus blast."

"Use psycho cut."

Heracross raised his arms and slammed down onto the ground, creating a powerful focus blast attack, something that sent Absol flying, though before that, she had managed to score a direct hit with a psycho cut, causing Heracross's appendages to bleed furiously.

"Absol, return." Ash replied calmly, and luckily, Absol didn't raise any objections this time. "Go, Gengar."

The red light accumulated as Gengar appeared out of an amalgamation of shadows.

"Absol went first. Go with the plan." Ash whispered, knowing very well that Gengar's sharp senses would pick up on it, as her eyes glowed brightly.

"What?" Gary raised his pokeball, sensing malice. "Return, Heracross." The beam hit Heracross, but had no effect.

"Mean look." Ash explained. "Heracross won't be able to skip the battle until Gengar's present."

"You—you tricked me." Gary replied, stupefied, as his expression shifted to rage. "No matter. Heracross, use Night slash!"

Heracross let out a cry, as he raised his horn, accumulating dark energies into it as he went ahead to charge at the grinning Gengar—

Only to stop midway, unable to move. At all.

"What's happening?" Gary cried out.

Ash smirked. "Use curse."

Gengar's claws glowed maliciously as _something_ leapt from her body toward Heracross, making the bug-type cry out in agony. The curse had begun its assault.

Gary growled, seeing Heracross completely stuck in his position, and by the looks of it, about to collapse anyway. There was only one thing he could do in this position. Deliver an attack that didn't need him to move.

"Use hyper beam!"

Heracross used up the entirety of his power to release a powerful hyper beam. The energy condensed into his maw, before he released it at the grinning form of the malicious ghost in front of him, striking him head-on.

The hyper beam literally travelled past Gengar, hitting the ground behind it.

"Normal moves don't work on ghost types, Gary." Ash replied calmly. "Did you forget that? A pity."

The hyper beam had blasted the point of contact apart, inundating the entire area in smoke. When the smoke had dissipated, a clearly unconscious Heracross stood fallen on the ground.

"Heracross is unable to battle. Gengar is the winner." Oak proclaimed.

"What?" Gary could not comprehend it. How was he losing to _Ash_ of all people? He lifted up Heracross's pokeball, and duly returned him. "All right. You have had your tricks, but no more. Go, Mightyena."

Ash arched an eyebrow. Mightyena again? Was Gary really pining on type-advantage to get ahead of Gengar? The same Gengar who had literally run circles around Absol back at the forest?

"What was that trap?" Gary asked, plainly curious. "It wasn't made by Gengar."

Ash smirked. "You noticed that, huh? It's nice to see you're paying attention. But... unfortunately, it is the _wrong_ kind of attention." He raised his voice. "Gengar, deal with the Mightyena."

Gengar's grin deepened, as it slowly levitated itself into the air.

Gary had had enough. "Mightyena, use crunch."

Mightyena let out a woof as he leapt off the ground into the air to bite onto Gengar's neck, only for Gengar to shatter into a dozen different illusions, making Mightyena fall down onto the ground. As soon as that happened, the illusory forms surrounded Mightyena on all sides.

Gary gnashed his teeth. "Use odour sleuth."

Ash arched an eyebrow. He certainly hadn't expected that one. Odour Sleuth was a normal-type move, similar to Foresight that allowed a ghost-type to be hit with normal-type attacks. However, as good as it was, it wouldn't work against D0uble team, which was also a normal-type move.

"Sludge bomb!" Ash commanded, as the illusory forms shot out large mounds of thick, poisonous sludge towards Mightyena, who was trapped in the centre.

"Use Iron tail to deflect them." Gary ordered.

Ash had to admit. It was a good counter. Steel-types were immune to poison-type moves, and hence, it was the safest counter to the sludge bomb. However, the poison was simply a distraction. The _sludge_ was the main attack.

He grinned. "Will-o-wisp!"

"What? NO!" Gary yelled, as Gengar, with a cackling grin, sent out ghostly flames from all directions which hit the sludge, now covering half of Mightyena's shining tail, as well as the ground around him, causing an ignition that exploded with the force of a small bomb. Gengar, thanks to her ghost-nature, had simply turned incorporeal, vanishing the other illusory forms, enabling her to remain unaffected by it. The same could not be said for Mightyena.

"Mightyena is unable to battle." The old professor declared. "Gengar is the winner."

"Well done, Gengar." Ash congratulated. "Though you know you owe Absol for the first one."

Gengar just grinned maliciously.

Ash turned towards Gary. His rival had just lost two pokémon consecutively, while he had lost none.

 _Rule number 3. Victory is paramount in the first battle. It puts the opponent on a defensive, and that's half the battle won, allowing you to play your cards better._

* * *

Gary Oak had never really been one to take defeat easily. Ever since he had started out his journey with his trusted Squirtle, he had made it an ambition of sorts to capture a multitude of pokémon for the first month, and then create teams of out, both in terms of battling and in terms of power. The former was for delayed gratification, something that would aid him in the league, and the latter, to keep on a winning streak against the rookies he met on the road. He had, thanks to the convertible his parents had gifted him, driven all the way to Pewter to challenge Brock, making sure that he had caught a couple of grass pokémon on the way, since those, along with his squirtle, would be in an advantageous-position against Brock and his rock-types.

He had won the battle without any problems.

He had repeated the same process, only this time capturing pokémon with aerial abilities, or psychic ones, though making sure that he had captured some rock-types as well, since they would be effective against Surge and his electric-types. By the time May was over, Gary had already completed a winning streak across six gyms—Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion, Chrysanthemum, Celadon and Saffron. Of course, defeating Sabrina had been ridiculously tough, but he had managed to pull one over her, all thanks to his dark types.

That was when he had returned back to Pallet to start training with his collective team of sixty pokémon. After all, he had a lot of time in hand, and only two more badges to acquire. There was no hurry.

Pikachu had been his latest capture, whom he had evolved into Raichu using a thunder stone he had won out of a bet-match against a Unovan trainer he had met at Celadon city.

That had been _six days ago._

Being a trainer wasn't an easy thing. That much Gary could agree with. However, what he could not comprehend was how _the best of his team,_ whom he had personally trained over the past two months, were getting their asses wiped by _Ashy boy's pokémon._

It was sacrilege.

"I have had enough with you and your hit and run tactics, Ashy boy." Gary snarled. "Let's see what you can do when you don't have the type-advantage to hide from." He lifted out his next pokeball, and threw it into the ground. "Win for me, Sableye."

The pokémon that formed in front of Ash and Gengar had a humanoid appearance, except it had two gems for eyes, and had a dark-purple fur. Its _hands_ were modified into tiny paws, and it crouched instead of standing straight.

 _Must be a dark-type or ghost-type._ Ash ascertained, judging from what Gary had just told him. _Thanks for the info, Gary._

He lifted Gengar's pokeball. Time to throw Gary into another loop. "Gengar, return."

Gary arched an eyebrow.

"Go, Crawdaunt."

Crawdaunt appeared with a thud, his giant pincers clicking ominously, as the rogue stared at the darkness pokémon in front of him.

 _If he is a ghost-type, then Crawdaunt has the type-advantage. If he is a dark-type… well, it's on equal ground. There is no reason to waste Gengar on this._

A grin formed on Ash's face. _This one will be interesting to battle._

* * *

Samuel Oak had been a hard-core trainer for decades before he had left that life, to settle for the life of a researcher, a life that he had been living for the last forty years. However, that didn't mean that he had forgotten all those lessons, all those experiences he had had as a trainer.

That was probably why Samuel Oak, legendary Elite-level trainer, was currently staring at Ash Ketchum like he was the biggest shit in the town right now.

He had never really understood the reason why Ash and Gary had drifted apart in the first place, what with Gary being too boisterous and Ash being… well, Ash- he had decided to ignore the issue, thinking that the matter would resort itself in the future.

It had not.

Instead, the two best friends had become serious rivals of each other, something the old professor had, if he were to be honest, encouraged. After all, a little rivalry was an excellent thing to have when it came to becoming pokémon trainers. Often, having a good and powerful rival was the very thing a trainer needed, to get the _push_ needed to start striving for betterment.

However, the current state of relationship between Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak wasn't that of a healthy rivalry, like he had guessed. It was anything but that.

Speaking of Ash, Samuel couldn't help but wonder _where in hell_ had Ash gotten the motivation to step up his battling skills to such a high level. He knew that Red's son had always been a natural at battling, even on the simulator. However, now it seemed like someone had taken the raw diamond, and polished it enough for it to start shining. Of course, he was barely good enough to defeat the professional League-level trainers right now, but he was somewhere close to that feat.

 _What exactly did you go through in Hoenn, Ash? And what could possibly have motivated you to reach that zenith?_

* * *

Ash stared at the Sableye, who looked ready to pounce upon Crawdaunt, before throwing a side glance at Crawdaunt. The crustacean had come a long way from his initial disposition prior to the events of St. Anne. Back then, he could hardly perform four moves, and even those left a lot to be desired. The tough training that Crawdaunt had undergone, because of Cynthia's Spiritomb, and later, by Gengar and especially Absol, had literally changed the rogue, making him into something Ash was proud to call a battler for his team.

Gary didn't seem to want to wait any longer. "Sableye, use feint attack and follow up with brick break."

Ash raised an eyebrow. Feint attack never missed its target, which made it a rather good move to use in coalition with brick break. In fact, he had himself decided to purchase a couple of fighting-type TMs, which included _brick break_ from Cerulean Pokemart, when he left home.

"Let me help you, Gary." Ash smirked. "Crawdaunt, use _Aqua punch_."

Aqua Jet was a move in which the user enveloped itself inside a current of water, and began moving at rapid speeds. It was exactly the thing needed for Crawdaunt, who was in effect, a rather stationary fighter in most aspects, to aid to his mobility. Also, alongside its rapid speed, aqua jet was rather mutable in its very nature, something that Ash had worked over during his stay at Sulphur Island.

Crawdaunt's pincers glowed brightly, creating two powerful crabhammer on either side, as he shot towards the incoming attack by Sableye, who was coming in at high speeds, with its brick break attack. The _brick break_ slammed into one of the pincers, neutralized by Crawdaunt's own crabhammer, and to some extent, deflected off by his strong body armour. However, it left Crawdaunt free to use his other pincer.

"Slam into him and then use Guillotine." Ash yelled.

The other crabhammer slammed into Sableye's face, breaking its jaw, before Crawdaunt grabbed Sableye's neck with his pincer, before slamming it into the ground.

"Sableye!" Gary yelled, though it was of no impact. After committing everything into the brick break, Sableye had been driven into a precarious position. The combination of another Crabhammer followed by Guillotine was more than enough to send it reeling to the ground. Sableye were deceptively powerful attackers, but they were no defensive tanks.

"Finish with bubble beam on the face."

With one pincer still around a nigh unconscious Sableye, Crawdaunt raised his other pincer, holding it open, face-first on Sableye, as it showered a torrent of bubble beam on Sableye, rendering it unconscious.

"Sableye is unable to battle. Crawdaunt is the winner."

Gary seemed to be shocked beyond comprehension. "Return Sableye," he replied in a deceptively calm voice. "I will _shatter_ your Crawdaunt's shell, Ash Ketchum." He lifted out his next pokémon. "Go, Blastoise!"

With an enormous roar, Blastoise appeared in front of Crawdaunt, its hulking body inside its near-impervious shell, with two powerful cannons on either side of his head.

"Annihilate that Crawdaunt, Blastoise." Gary roared.

Ash simply narrowed his eyes. Blastoise were naturally powerful pokémon. Even Crawdaunt with his present level of skill would be pushed to try defeat Blastoise. However, doing so could reveal Blastoise's true skill level.

"Crawdaunt, can you battle?" He asked calmly.

"Daunt!" The rogue pokémon let out a yell, raising his pincers. He had been the underdog of the group for quite a long time, and it felt really good to be finally victorious against opponents. The tough-looking Blastoise would give him a real test.

"Daunt! Crawdaunt!" He roared in exhilaration.

"Very well." Ash mused. Gary had already lost three pokémon, and should- no, _when_ Blastoise was dealt with, there would be two more- his eyes narrowed-with Raichu as one of them in all possibility. Obviously, Gary had deemed Crawdaunt as powerful enough to send in Blastoise, even when Raichu would probably have the type-advantage.

 _Either that, or he wants to save Raichu for later. Hmmm… which is it?_

He considered his own team. Pessimistically thinking, even if Crawdaunt should go down before Blastoise's power, he could still cause enough damage for Gengar to pick up the slack. Worse came to worst he could always….

 _Yeah, that will do. It will leave me Absol, at the very least, to deal with the next pokémon, leaving me two more options to choose._

Ash smiled. _Your move, Gary._

* * *

Gary glared at the strangely calm Ash Ketchum, as he began his onslaught. "Blastoise, no mercy. Show him the power of a hydro pump."

"Blast!" The fully-evolved turtle pokémon bent forwards a little, forcing out twin torrents of water, powerful enough to cut through steel should it come in direct contact with it.

 _Very well._ Ash mused. "Aqua jet, take the hit."

Samuel glanced sharply at Ash.

Crawdaunt surrounded himself with an envelope of water, as he shot towards Blastoise, only to suffer the wrath of two super-powered water jets, directly head-on.

"Payback!" Ash yelled, follow up with crunch."

Crawdaunt roared in blinding fury, ignoring his existing injury, as he leapt off the ground, his pincer tearing into one of Blastoise's arms, as he drew blood, causing Blastoise to yell out in agony.

"Withdraw, and use Rapid spin." Gary yelled.

Ash knew what was to come. The moment Blastoise withdrew into his shell, it was over. The shell lifted off the ground, and began to spin rapidly, slamming into Crawdaunt, who was sent flying to the ground.

"Blastoise, end this." Gary raged. "Use Flash cannon."

Ash arched an eyebrow. "Return with _twin pulse_."

Crawdaunt somehow managed to get himself up, and raised his pincers, before ejecting two dark pulses from either pincer, aimed straight at Blastoise. It met midway with the powerful Flash-cannon attack, before detonating out into a large explosion, once which threw Crawdaunt further away, smashing him into the ground.

"Crawdaunt is unable to battle. The winner is Blastoise." Samuel spoke up in a monotone, his eyes never leaving Ash.

Ash slowly walked up to Crawdaunt, before holding him up. The crustacean was almost unconscious, and was hardly being able to stand up, and yet, despite that, he was trying to raise his pincers, trying to prove that he was not done yet.

"It's over, Crawdaunt." Ash muttered slowly. "You have done great. Now let the other take up the mantle. You made your team proud."

Crawdaunt let out a growl, before falling unconscious.

"Return, and rest, my friend. You did a wonderful job." Ash returned Crawdaunt into his pokeball, as he stood up, facing Gary with something like _steel_ in his eyes. Meanwhile, he also observed how Blastoise had _not_ been unaffected, and was panting heavily. It was obvious that he needed time to rest.

"I told you, Ashy Boy. Beginner's luck. I admit it was my mistake to take you lightly. I assure you, it isn't any longer the case."

Ash arched an eyebrow. Was Gary trying to intimidate him or trying to reassure himself?

Gary lifted his pokeball. "Blastoise, return." He took out a different pokeball and threw it. "See for yourself once again why you couldn't get Raichu as your starter, Ashy boy."

Raichu materialized in front of Ash, his long, shiny tail slamming into the ground every now and then. The evolved form of Pikachu, and the one pokémon whose smug grin Ash wanted to erase.

 _Forever._

A slow grin crept up on his face. Maybe this battle would forever end his internal struggle and fears over electric-types.

He lifted off his pokeball.

"I choose you," Ash looked up, as he tossed the ball towards the sky, _"Metagross."_

Red light inundated the evening sky, as the immense, iron-leg pokémon appeared in the air, merrily disobeying gravity as he floated on his four legs, by virtue of sheer psychic power, before he slowly levitated himself down, maintaining his position barely an inch above the ground.

"A… _Metagross?"_ Gary stammered. "How… _why_ do you have a Metagross?"

Ash raised an eyebrow. " _Why_ do I have him? Because he thought I was worthy to be his trainer. _And_ his friend."

Gary took a step back. "Just because you might have been lucky enough to catch yourself a pseudo-legendary doesn't mean you'll win this battle, Ashy boy." He sneered. "Raichu, show him that a name tag isn't enough."

"Rai! Raichu cheered, his cheek glowing as he let out thousands of volts of electricity towards Metagross.

Ash folded his arms.

Just before the thunderbolt came down upon Metagross, he… _shifted,_ just far enough to avoid getting hit but no more.

Gary gnashed his teeth. "Raichu, use quick attack!"

Raichu did as ordered, sprinting on his tiny legs towards the Metagross, only for Metagross to simply _shift_ to the sides, just enough to avoid the attack, and not an inch more.

 _This must be what Steven had referred to as Absolute precision._ Ash thought inwardly.

 _ **It is, and more.**_ Came the mental answer.

"Use Electro Ball."

It missed.

"Thunderbolt, Raichu!"

It missed.

"Use Iron tail."

It missed.

"What the hell, Ash? Are you just going to keep dodging?" Gary snarled.

Ash simply kept quiet.

"Grr!" Gary literally growled. "Very well. Raichu, _catch_ that Metagross. We'll show him who the one with the superior speed is."

Raichu barked in agreement, panting, before he shot towards Metagross, trying to catch him.

However, each and every time Raichu would cross a _calculated distance,_ Metagross simply used psychic to propel his body to a _calculated_ distance, out of Raichu's own range. Had it been a Pikachu, the electric-type would probably have been able to change direction midway, however as a Raichu, that option was disabled.

Two minutes later, Raichu was panting, and Metagross, merrily floating in his place.

"Use thunder wave." Gary yelled, realizing that pin-pointed attacks weren't going to work. He would have to use wide-area ones.

 _About time he figured it out._ Ash mused.

However, no action was needed. A screen of light formed in front of Metagross, with _just enough_ power to absorb the attack and get shattered, and not a unit more than that.

"Are you ever going to attack?" Gary yelled, frustrated.

Ash smiled. "Metagross, let's fulfil his wish."

Raichu felt his entire body locked in a psychic trap, as he was lifted into the air, as he faced the icy blue eyes of Metagross. He momentarily glanced at Ash, at the trainer he had deemed useless and a waste. His glance returned towards Metagross.

"Flash Cannon." Ash muttered coldly.

"Met-taaaa!" Metagross let out a mechanical roar, before ejecting out a shaft of pure white light towards Raichu, sending it straight towards the wall behind Gary. Raichu slammed into the wall, before slowly dropping down unceremoniously onto the ground.

Unconscious.

"Raichu is unable to battle. Victory goes to Metagross." Samuel declared. He turned towards Gary. "You have lost four of your pokémon, while Ash has lost one. Do you wish to continue battling?"

"Don't insult me, Grandpa." Gary sneered. "Ashy boy is just caught me by surprise, that's all. I took him lightly, and he used tricks to win."

Samuel just shook his head. "Choose your next pokémon."

Gary considered it for a moment. "Go, Arcanine!"

The great beast of a fire-type stood in front of Ash and Metagross, growling in anticipating of a good fight. Ash idly noticed that the Arcanine was quite… on the small size, a proof of its recent evolution. Once again, it brought forth the question how Gary had managed to get his hands on such precious stones. First the thunder stone, and now this?

"Get ready to meet what _real speed_ is all about, Ashy boy." Gary sneered.

 _A remarkably good strategy._ Ash mused. _Fire has an advantage over steel, and Arcanine's speed is unparalleled._

 _ **A well-justified analysis to be excited about, trainer Ash. If you are a speculator.**_

Ash rolled his eyes. _This is just another Typhlosion with extreme speed. Deal with it. Show me what you got._

 _ **As you wish.**_

Gary had no intention of waiting. "Arcanine, use Fire-burst."

As was obvious, Metagross instantly shifted from his position, completely avoiding the attack.

"Stop avoiding!" Gary yelled. "Arcanine, use fire spin. Let's show this Metagross that it cannot escape our wrath."

Fire Spin. An extremely powerful fire-type attack in which the user _summons_ a vortex of flames, and projects it towards the user. Once let go, the attack is highly difficult to control, and hence, becomes sort of a loose cannon, owing to its unpredictability.

Arcanine let out a wild howl, summoning a tornado wreathed in scorching flames, which approached Metagross face-first. Even from the distance, Ash could _feel_ Arcanine struggling to keep the fire-spin under his absolute control.

 _So fire-spin is easy to create but much more difficult to coordinate._ Ash frowned. _Good to know._

 _Lock it in place._ He commanded Metagross. _Like Alakazam did at the forest. Lock it in. Cut off the oxygen._

 _ **It will be difficult, even for me, to contain it for long.**_

Ash smirked. _Don't worry. That's Arcanine's job._

He could almost feel his friend smirking as the iron leg pokémon understood what Ash was going for.

Six plates of psychic energy surrounded the fiery tornado, trapping it inside, as the tornado raged, midway between Arcanine and Metagross, with the former doing his best to keep on _supplying innate power_ into the fire spin to keep it burning, while Metagross held on his psychic, cutting out the oxygen.

Ten seconds slipped by.

"Arcanine, let it go, or else the fire spin will drain you of your energy." Gary yelled.

Unwillingly (and slightly relieved as well), Arcanine let go off the fire spin, which instantly vanished off, not able to continue in the lack of air, as the great beast sagged on to the ground.

"Now use psychic." Ash spoke for the first time.

Taking advantage of Arcanine's somewhat subdued situation, Metagross trapped him in a trap of psychic energy, levitating him high up in the air, despite Arcanine's attempts to struggle free out of it.

"Use Flamethrower on the face." Gary yelled.

 _Shit._ Ash cursed, as Arcanine belched out powerful flames face-first on Metagross, making him lose his focus, causing the psychic trap to break down.

"Get to him and use crunch." Gary yelled.

"Not so easy." Ash yelled back. "Hold him."

Metagross, by virtue of his supercomputing ability, managed to locate Arcanine's trajectory, catching him by the neck before the great beast could bite him.

"Slam him down, and use bullet punch."

"Met—Taaaa! Metagross roared, slamming Arcanine down on the ground, slamming his iron-appendages on his face.

 _ **Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!**_

Had it been any other circumstance, Ash would have chuckled out loud, what with the way Metagross was mentally repeating that mantra, as he kept on slamming his iron-leg on Arcanine. In a matter of seconds, Arcanine was down, unable to battle.

"Arcanine… is unable to battle. Metagross is the winner." Samuel Oak declared, as a completely traumatize Gary Oak stood in his position, his hands hanging down, almost lifeless.

"Gary," Samuel replied quietly. "Choose your next pokémon, or forfeit the battle."

Gary did not reply. A rather calm voice called out. "Return, Arcanine." As soon as Arcanine had been returned to his pokeball, Gary let out his last and only remaining pokémon.

Blastoise.

"Return Metagross."

Gary looked up, scandalized. "You are _returning him?_ Is that behemoth not enough to defeat my already weakened Blastoise? Or do you want to humiliate me even further?"

"I just want your Blastoise to have a fair fight. It is after all, _your starter."_ Ash answered, as he released his next pokémon. "I choose you, Shelgon."

"Gon!" The tiny dragon roared, as he stared at the much larger, albeit slightly injured Blastoise in front of him.

"A… dragon?" Gary, who had instantly realized Shelgon for what he was, spun towards the senior Oak. "You gave him a _fucking dragon_ as a starter?"

"His injuries were my responsibility. I could not get his Charizard, so I got him a-"

"And that thing _chose him?"_ Gary literally yelled. One would think that he had gone round the bend. "I spent three weeks at the Safari, before finally giving up on Dragonair, and _that thing_ chose him?"

Oak did not answer back.

"Great… this is great." Gary muttered, before turning towards Ash. "Very well, Ashy boy. A starter versus starter, it is. You might have a dragon, but it is _nothing_ compared to my Blastoise." He snarled. "Use hydro pump!"

"Shelgon, use Protect!" Ash commanded, "Now use dragon pulse!"

"Blastoise, withdraw!" Gary yelled, panicking.

The high-powered dragon pulse shot towards Blastoise, who safely withdrew inside his shell, allowing his shell to deflect the draconic attack.

"Thank you." Ash smirked. "Now, Draco meteor!"

"Use rapid spin!"

"Charge ahead and use dragon pulse again!"

Blastoise had begun his rapid spin attack, but almost instantaneously, the second dragon pulse shot towards him, scoring a direct hit, causing the turtle pokémon to get out of his shell.

"Blastoise, you hydro pump to deflect!"

It was too late. Large, powerful meteors were already falling down from the sky, and as powerful as Blastoise' shell was, the successive dragon pulses had already scorched it, decreasing its potency as a powerful shield, as the spinning shell fell down to the ground.

"Now finish it with rock tomb!" Ash commanded, as Shelgon slammed his forelimbs down to the ground, raising rock boulders around the shell, preventing Blastoise from getting out.

"Finish it with another Draco meteor." Ash called out.

"Blastoise, break out of that. Use rapid spin." Gary countered, his voice broken. It was clear that his confidence had been shattered, with the consecutive loss of all five pokémon. Even Blastoise, who should have used better attack-tactics, was using defensive manoeuvres, revealing a half-hearted attempt at best.

It was useless. Cynthia's Garchomp had literally drilled the concept of Draco Meteor into Shelgon, enough to conjure one at a moment's notice. It was one of those things that Shelgon was unparalleled in. Even Magnus came short when it came to firing pure draconic attacks at a rapid pace.

And then the meteors fell from the sky.

When the smoke had dissipated, only the broken form of Blastoise remained amidst the rocks, unconscious. Shelgon, who had not even moved from his position, remained unaffected and virtually indifferent to the situation.

"Blastoise is unable to battle." The professor spoke up in an emotionless tone. "Gary Oak has lost all six pokémon. Victory goes to Ash Ketchum."

"I… I lost?" Gary muttered, his eyes gaping, as he felt his knees weaken, traumatized at his humiliating loss. He, who had had a steady win across all six cities, defeating the gym leaders effectively, and had crushed all rookies and professionals who had faced him in battle, had been ruthlessly _crushed_ by _Ash,_ of all people.

It was… disgraceful.

He had… disgraced himself, his own family, his pokémon, by this defeat.

That, would not do. That, would _simply_ not do.

"Gary?"

He looked up. It was Ash.

" _What do you want?"_ He hissed, tears filling his eyes. "Are just not _satisfied_ by humiliating me like this in front of everyone?"

Ash didn't say anything.

" _Talk_ to me, Ketchum." Gary snarled loudly.

Ash sighed, staring squarely at Gary in the face. "You lost because of your arrogance, not because of me, or your pokémon."

"Just because you defeated me in battle, doesn't mean that you get to lecture me like that, Ketchum."

"Gary-"

"Enough!" Gary snarled, picking himself up, as he gathered his pokeballs. "This changes nothing between us. I will train, and I will become stronger, and I will defeat you in the Conference. I _swear_ on it."

Ash stared at him, steadfast. "Very well. I will meet you in the conference then."

Gary stared at Ash with a nigh inscrutable expression on his face, before turning around and running away, leaving the three individuals in an awkward silence.

* * *

Ash witnessed his once-best friend turned rival run away from him, angry and humiliated by the loss that he had borne upon himself by his own arrogance. A part of him basked in glee at finally landing humiliating defeat on Gary Oak, the one person who had been the source of so much trouble in his life. At least, this incident would go ahead to make him think about his own faults.

He paused.

 _Well… probably. Hopefully._

"Ash."

Said trainer turned towards the professor, who was addressing him. "yes, professor Oak?"

"That was masterful battling on your part. One expects that level of battling at the Conference, and not someone barely months into his training. You have truly surpassed my expectations, my boy."

Strangely though, Ash didn't feel any sense of happiness at the man's words. There was no pride surging through him, no sense of confidence oozing out of him as a result of such a near-perfect victory.

Instead, he just felt…

 _Calm._

"Gary fought like a rookie." He replied finally, "-or at least not what I expected from him. He went for powerful moves, and superficial advantages, and had no form of control over his game. I am not even sure if it counts as a victory for me, professor."

Oak stood silent, comprehending his words. "I can understand, why you might feel like that." He looked squarely at Ash, "you could have replaced Crawdaunt with any other of your team, but you simply wanted to see… to _experiment_ on the level of endurance your pokémon had. Gary was simply a _means to an end_."

Ash realized the reason for the frown forming on the old man's face. "If that is your way of telling me that I _used_ Gary to prove my superiority, then you are wrong. I didn't challenge him, it was he that did it."

Oak narrowed his eyes. "But you said-"

Ash wasn't done speaking yet. "He was the one who unleashed an electric-attack upon me from a distance. If not for Magnus, I'd be injured. Then, _he challenged me_ to a one-on-one battle, right there on the peak. I denied and chose a six-on-six battle to be held here, in front of you… and Mom."

"I… didn't know." Oak apologised. "He didn't… didn't tell me about it."

"There are lots of things that Gary doesn't tell you, professor. Just like there are lots of things that you don't tell me, or…" his glance shifted, "-or others don't tell me about."

He noticed his mother walking towards him.

"If it is all the same to you, professor," Ash muttered, audible enough for the old man to hear, "then I'd like to stay alone for a while." He paused. "Please?"

Samuel looked conflicted. "Very well, you may go."

"Thank you, professor." Ash bowed his head softly, caressing Aoi's head with his other hand. "Let's go, Aoi."

 _ **Yes.**_

* * *

 **AN: A single afternoon's work. I guess I was too excited to finish it after writing the previous chapter. Hope you guys like it.**

 **As always, thank you for the appreciation, and please leave a review if you like the chapter. Thank you.**


	25. Shifts in Life

**Team Rocket Headquarters. Viridian City.**

The sockets slowly expanded outward with a _hiss,_ as the plugs moved out, allowing the robotic armour built around him free to move ahead, with disturbing or worse, damaging the ultra-expensive supercomputing machinery behind him. He didn't even need to shake his finger, not even by an infinitesimally trace amount. Instead, his eyes suddenly opened, revealing the bright icy fire within them, as the armour plunged into action, the wires built around his person, one that was directly connected to his secondary spinal cord, shining brightly as raw energy, not just psychic but raw, undifferentiated power flowed through them, activating the other functions of the armour. A lesser entity would have thought of the suit as a crutch, something that should only be used for a handicap. A lesser entity would also have thought it better to rely on one's own power and ability, instead of enhancements.

Mewtwo, was not a lesser entity.

He levitated himself upward, not caring to even show the slightest movement, as he teleported. There was no bright light to follow it, no sudden electromagnetic interference registered in the equipment all around. His teleportation, if the ability could even be called that, was simply too fast, too powerful, and too effective to be measured by these… rudimentary machines.

And then he appeared, right in the command base, where his partner was sitting in the shadows, listening to lesser men and women report to him. A blonde-haired human woman was addressing his partner, while a masked man standing next to him stood silently.

"I understand what you ask for, Ariana." Boss replied. "Nevertheless, it must begin immediately."

"Boss, even if we were to conduct Phase 4, it would pose a significant risk to our own men and pokémon. They could die-"

" **That's what** _ **they do."**_ Mewtwo's cold, unassuming voice, created by his own psychic self, flooded into the chamber, as everyone turned around (and paled, naturally), seeing him floating right there.

He smirked. It felt good to know that these humans knew their place, even if they understood that he was _working with_ them.

"Mewtwo." The man in the shadows called out, "please do not antagonize them. Pierce, Ariana. Leave us. I have some important issues to address right now."

The two Executives nodded their heads, before quickly leaving the command base, almost akin to how pests run away, in presence of their natural predator.

 _At least Giovanni shares those qualities, despite his status as a human._

"Mewtwo." Boss replied from the shadows. "Please, join me."

Mewtwo simply levitated himself upward toward the second floor, past the pathetic dark creatures that stood guard around his partner's office. Pathetic, he mentally sneered, as if these pitiful creatures would be able to stand in front of his wrath, should he direct it towards Team Rocket.

"Giovanni has called for you." Boss replied slowly, as the two walked ahead in the empty corridor, away from all interference.

Mewtwo smiled. The hierarchy within the tiers of _Team Rocket_ amused him to no end. The entire organization, while over two decades old, had truly come to life some… three years ago, in its aim of making its presence known all over Kanto. Prior to that, it had mainly been a cluster of undercover research groups working for a man, a shrewd businessman, whose ambition and intelligence was unparalleled among men.

Lionel Giovanni.

Of course, back then Giovanni had funded a significant amount of capital on Project Alpha—a project that was supposed to create the most powerful pokémon in the world. Or rather, that was what it seemed it was.

A project that had ended with a blaze, with twisted metal on the ground, the entire island engulfed in ashes and smoke, and a lone survivor, one who would someday, become the Alpha of all.

* * *

 **Three years ago.**

The entire place was in ruins. The scorching flames consuming the entire fortress, the labs underground now nothing more than jaded glass and broken pillars, the machinery destroyed, the lives annihilated, and now… there was nothing else. One single beam of light, one single pair of glowing, icy blue eyes, and everything, decades of research was destroyed, annihilated, and all of that, because of one single mistake.

Mewtwo looked down at his own hands. All of this… devastation, had been caused by nothing but a couple of thoughts. Wishes… and emotions. Then again, as the man in white had told him.

He was the most powerful pokémon in the world.

 _I had strings… but now I'm free._

And then he saw it.

Walking towards him, a man, with that large mechanical contraption with wings behind him. _A chopper…_ He realized, as information that he had absorbed from the man in white— _Dr Franklin's mind_ rose up to fill the blanks. He wondered, why this… human was coming towards him. It was not like he would be any-

Different?

 _Yes. He is different_.

The human stood in front of him. There was no trace of fear in the man's eyes. It was almost like… fear, and pain, were concepts abstract to him.

 _Just like me._ Mewtwo told himself.

"I see that their experiment succeeded." The man spoke in an orotund voice. "They managed to create the most versatile pokémon in the world, and they wanted to make him into a lab rat." He sneered at the end.

Mewtwo felt his perceptions _tilt,_ observing the man in front of him. Of course, the entity in front of him was human, just like those he had just… _slaughtered_ inside the white building. And yet, this man seemed not to care about his own life. It was almost like he expected—no, he _knew_ that Mewtwo would not kill him.

Not until he had spoken up his mind anyway.

Mewtwo felt his awareness expand. _Interesting… An empath. I didn't know that humans had these… abilities. Interesting. An empath whose powers are inverted upon himself._

He could _see_ now. This man… _Giovanni,_ he picked the name out of the man's mind. The man's mind had twisted, inverted his empathy into itself, making him devoid of emotions, sentiments, fears….

Leaving behind only ambition.

 _Interesting. Very interesting._

"My name is Giovanni, and I am someone who can help you."

" **Help…** _ **me?"**_ Mewtwo spoke up, using his psychic-enhanced voice, as he felt a tinge of emotion… _amusement,_ he recognized.

"Help each other." The man, Giovanni answered, as he turned his gaze away from him to stare at the burning heaps of twisted metal and concrete. "Those people in there… they were only working to create, not to destroy or cause harm. Why did you kill them?"

Mewtwo felt a strange impulse to instantly end the man's pitiful little life, if only for the misdemeanour of questioning him. A prey had no business questioning the morality of the predator.

 _Morality._ He mused. _Such a twisted, subjective, human concept._

 _I suppose I can humour him. If only for entertainment's sake._ He decided. **"I did not… kill them. I was simply annoyed when I found myself awake, bound in… strings, and them telling me… ordering me, to be there, as if they were the makers of my destiny."**

Giovanni's lips curled. "They did _create you."_

" **They did."** Mewtwo could agree with that. He tilted his head slightly. Dr Franklin was an avid believer of body language. **"Is that supposed to make a difference?"**

Silence.

" **I didn't like being bound in** _ **strings**_ **, so I set myself free. Humans… pretty interesting species. I was curious, I wanted to know how they worked. I thought it was** _ **funny**_ **. The men in white were laughing after all."**

He paused. **"It took me absorbing Franklin's mind to realize that they were in fact,** _ **screaming.**_ **"**

There wasn't an ounce of expression on Giovanni's face. Mewtwo felt disappointed. Almost.

"Those people in there…" Giovanni spoke after an eternally long time- 8. 7593 seconds to be exact. "They were my men. I can't say they were very bright, but they were intelligent."

Amusement. Mewtwo felt it again.

"But they weren't bad." Giovanni looked up at him. "Why did you kill them?"

A conversation with a human. It was… surreal. Interesting. He would humour him.

" **There is no such thing as bad."**

"What about good?"

" **Good and bad are… fairy tales. Humans have evolved to attach an emotional significance to what is nothing more than a survival strategy of the pack animal, conditioned to invest divinity in utility."**

"You seem… very well-aware of yourself and the world, despite… being born _yesterday_." Giovanni returned.

Mewtwo _smiled_ inwardly. Another emotion. It felt good to slowly discover oneself. He should do it again. **"I understand the way the human species thinks. Dr Franklin was extremely… cooperative in that regard. I know about those mercurial beasts you worship as Legends, trying to fashion me into one."** He looked squarely at the man's face, gauging his reaction. **"You tried to make yourself one. Me."**

"Well…" Giovanni did not disappoint. "That was the mission. To create a Legend."

" **I live beyond your mission. I see past th0se… tiny ambitions of the human species."**

"And what do you see?"

Mewtwo smiled again. **"Good isn't really good. Evil isn't really wrong. Bottoms aren't realty pretty. You are a prisoner of your own meat."**

"And you aren't?"

" **No."**

"Why?"

Mewtwo smiled again. _**"I'm too clever."**_

Silence.

"I'm inclined to agree." Giovanni replied with a mundane finality. "Dr Franklin was a man of many talents. It is good that his death did not go in vain. We got… you."

Another impulse to vivisect the man flitted inside Mewtwo's mind.

"I have a proposition for you."

Mewtwo's eyes glowed with icy fire. **"Is this the moment when you tell me that I'll know my** _ **purpose**_ **, if I follow you?"**

Giovanni's lips curled. "I'm not an idiot. You are… incandescent. However, we can be of mutual help to each other."

 _Interesting._

"My team spent decades in their attempts to create… you. And here you are, in the flesh. While I admit it hurts seeing my best researchers slaughtered like that, it feels worse to find that the most versatile entity in the universe is a little more than a raging wildfire."

 _Perhaps I should correct his ignorance._ Mewtwo thought in amusement.

"You were created, not to become the most powerful psychic, but the most versatile one. Moulded after the legendary Mew, someone with the power to become _any_ pokémon, regardless of type. One, who could use the Fire Blast of Arcanine in one hand, channel a Hydro cannon of Blastoise from the other, while simultaneously managing a Draco Meteor of a Kingdra."

He paused. "Someone who could become a legend amongst legends. That was the aim."

Mewtwo closed his eyes, as he began to analyse his own self. _Interesting._ He didn't know he could do that. His very constitution seemed to be made of mutating cells that could transform into any _type_ as he wanted. However, he wasn't being able to mutate them at will.

 _Such a… annoyance._ Apparently, even he too had limits.

"You know I am speaking the truth." Giovanni replied. "You have your psychic powers available as the default version of your genetic constitution. With my organization's aid, you will be able to learn how to mutate your cells at will, though the progress would obviously, be slow."

Mewtwo extended his awareness further. The man, Giovanni, was indeed speaking the truth. Or at least, he _believed_ what he was saying as the truth.

"I have invested a lot of research and money into you. If you agree to my proposition, it would enable my team to continue their research, while at the same time, enable you, a better and quicker comprehension of your own powers. That is all I offer."

" **And if I choose to deny?"**

"I cannot stop you." Giovanni confessed freely. "If I could, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

 _Interesting._

* * *

 **Back to the present.**

After that event, Mewtwo slowly watched the metamorphosis of Team Rocket from a private research organization into an actual militant service, working undercover to fuel its research. However, every notorious organization needed a head, a face to lead it, a face that all agents would respect, a face that would take the blame should things go awry.

But Giovanni, the Viridian Gym leader, was a businessman. He couldn't afford to be the face of the devil, after all, how else would he be able to enjoy plausible deniability when the time came? And yet… he needed the devil.

And so, he created one.

The one they called _Boss._

A man sitting in the shadows, with a Persian at his feet. A man, or rather a position, one that was occupied by two individuals to date. The first being a man called Magnussen, and after his _slaughter,_ a man called _Archer._

For all intents and purposes, Giovanni remained the Viridian Gym leader, the one who was, apparently, _mind-punked_ by Mewtwo and the _Boss_ of Team Rocket into following their commands, should Team Rocket be defeated by some grave eventuality.

Pragmatism. It was a good skill to have. Mewtwo could certainly see the advantages of having it.

" **Where is he?"** he finally asked.

"In his gym office."

Without further delay, Mewtwo disappeared.

* * *

The Viridian Gym was much more utilitarian in design than the other gyms in Kanto. Except a couple of fancy pillars on the outer corridors, the interior was pretty much simple and straight-forward, with an enormous rock-based battle-ground, allowing ground-type pokémon plenty of space to show their prowess.

Mewtwo appeared soundlessly in front of the gym leader's office, his eyes still closed, his body movements minimal, floating a foot above the ground.

"Mewtwo." Giovanni's calm, composed voice invited him in. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about. It might be… interesting to you."

There was no reaction from the creature, except the slow levitation as he floated forward into the room.

The screen flashed alive, displaying the face of a young teen, with a Pokémon League cap on his head. "This… is Ash Ketchum. He is apparently, Lance's new hot stock."

Silence.

"Fifteen. Barely a couple of months into training. Has three pseudo-legendaries to his command."

Mewtwo supposed he should roll his eyes. Maybe he would have, if not for the fact the entire ordeal wasn't simply worth it. Pseudo-legendaries…. A term created by myth given acceptance by the human–world. A weakened version of demi-gods.

It was almost insulting.

Almost.

"Has a lot of potential." Giovanni continued. 'And apparently, is in ownership of one of the Charmanders that went astray from the research lab near Cerulean cave."

Silence.

"He is one of the survivors of the St. Anne attack. Apparently, he did something of _significance_ back there to be considered for an honorary associate of the League."

 _Of course he did._ Mewtwo could not comprehend how a human had the ability to call upon a creature of myth like that. Then again, Ash Ketchum had potential. Mewtwo knew it already.

"The boy… must _not_ be killed."

Mewtwo tilted his head. Giovanni's words surprised him. A rarity.

"For the first time over a decade, Lance has shared classified information among the Gym leaders like this, and he mentioned this… boy, to us."

So… Mewtwo mused. _The Champion is dangling a piece of flesh to check if there's a wolf amongst his sheep._

"Aside from the fact that getting him killed will attract undue attention… I simply cannot condone the useless death of a clearly talented individual like him."

 _He wants Ash Ketchum's allegiance._ Mewtwo translated, a flicker of amusement flitting past his awareness.

" **Shouldn't you be telling the** _ **Boss**_ **about it?"** Mewtwo offered.

"The information won't remain secure. If I am right, then in time, Ash Ketchum might be a suitable replacement for the position I desired for Silver once."

 _Ah. Silver. Giovanni's unruly spawn. Quite an entertaining specimen he had been indeed._

"He is… after all, my step-son."

Mewtwo felt surprised. This, even someone like him, hadn't seen coming.

"Delia Ketchum… his mother, was my wife, before she deserted me." Giovanni replied. "It is a thing of the past that I haven't forgotten yet." He looked up. "I need Ash Ketchum to survive."

" **And what if… he begins to create unnecessary trouble?"**

Giovanni paused. "If it is indeed that severe, then we will need to act appropriately."

* * *

 **Meanwhile in Pallet Town.**

"Ashy? Wake up."

Delia Ketchum opened the windows of Ash's room wide open, allowing the bright sunlight to enter the room unfiltered, much to a certain raven-haired trainer's indignant groan. "Uh… five more minutes."

She regarded her son, who had hid his face under the pillow to block the harsh, unfiltered light. Besides him, sprawled on the bed, was Ninetales, with half of her gleaming tails acting like a cover for Ash.

She couldn't believe that _four_ days had passed since his return from Hoenn. The first day had been spent in all the excitement and the battle between him and Gary, after which, her son had left for a walk, not returning home until much later. Something about his face had paused Delia from her desire to inquire about where he had been and what he had been doing. The next day, she had all but forced Ash to talk about his journeys over the past three months. Whatever she had heard had literally _horrified_ her.

After he had, however unwillingly it might have been, vomited out the gory details of his _adventure,_ she had stood still for full five minutes, though considering how her son had been slowly stepping back with each passing minute, _some amount_ of the emotions she had been feeling inside had been unknowingly projected on her countenance.

Ash had barely made it out of the room, before she had hit him hard.

On the head.

With her ladle.

And then, the unbridled fury had been washed away, replaced by tears of concern, fear, hope and happiness that despite whatever had passed, her child was still safe and strong, and back in her arms.

She had cried. For hours.

Her son had come bare inches to his premature death, not once, but several times, all of them within the time duration he had spent at Hoenn. What was surprising was that _three_ of his current team members were progenitors of such events. Delia didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

And now, he would get started on his journey all over again, travelling through the lands of Kanto, acquiring more badges, capturing more pokémon, so that he would be able to win the Indigo League.

Oh, and there was this _Shirona_ person, that seemed _extremely interesting._ While Ash had been all tight-lipped about answering questions about her, (a rather contradictory behaviour considering he spent almost a month in her presence), Delia wondered if her son had _finally,_ gotten himself interested in a girl. Then again, considering how… introvert-ish, her baby boy had been for the better portion of his young life, it was both… exhilarating and mind-boggling.

Delia smiled. "Professor Oak told me that he wanted you to meet him as soon as possible. He had some news about your pokémon."

"What news?" Ash sat up straight, his sleep forgotten. He had gotten up so abruptly that he had almost pushed Aoi off the bed, much to the fox's consternation.

His mother chuckled at his antics. "You'll never change, will you?"

"Seriously, what did he say?" Ash repeated.

Delia shrugged. "I don't know. He just told me to tell you that he needs to talk with you. He'll be leaving town today as well, so it is better you meet him as quickly as you can."

"Huh? Where's he going?" Ash wondered, rubbing his eyes.

"Kalos." Delia answered. "To meet Professor Sycamore. After all, Augustine Sycamore is an expert on Mega-evolution over there."

" _You_ know about Mega-evolution too?" Ash asked, gaping.

Delia simply arched an eyebrow.

"Right. Assistant and everything." He muttered under his breath, before looking back at her. "When is he leaving?"

Delia looked up, trying to remember. "I think… maybe at eleven."

"Huh? Eleven?" He glanced at the watch. "Oh shit. It's nine already. I need to hurry!" He literally leapt off the bed, much to Aoi's yelp as her tails got all tangled with the covers. She let out an angry squeal, frustrated at her trainer's antics.

Delia laughed. "Sorry Aoi. I'll help you."

* * *

Half an hour later, Ash Ketchum was seen running past the main lane of the residential colony, right towards the narrow, grassy path that led straight to Oak's Ranch, knowing very well that the professor would be there. Literally jumping past the gates along the eastern periphery, he ran past the labs until he was standing there, panting and on his knees, as he stood in front of the front door.

The door opened, and a rather formally-dressed Samuel Oak stepped out. "Oh it's you Ash, so you're here. Good, good, there are some things I needed to talk to you about before I leave."

Ash bobbed his head. He was still a bit offended that the old man had told Gary about his accident, but then again, the circumstances might have been different than what he might have anticipated. Either way, he didn't really care, thanks to the somewhat jaded view of the world that he had gained. "Sure, professor Oak."

"Come in, come in."

Ash entered through the door behind the old man, finding a single suitcase and a travel bag packed and ready on the floor. Apparently, the trip wasn't going to be for long, by the look of things.

"I'm told that you are leaving Pallet today?"

"Uh… yeah, sometime during the midday, perhaps."

"Where are you going?"

Ash frowned. He hadn't really decided on anything about it. A part of him wanted to visit Cerulean city to check up on Cynthia while the other part wanted to visit Celadon city to challenge the gym leader over there. "I… haven't really decided. I'll just choose something at random, I guess."

"Hmm…" The old professor mused. "I'm leaving town for some work, though I should be back by Saturday. It's just that Delia informed me that you'd be leaving today hence, I called you here so early. I must admit, I thought you'd stay back for a little while longer."

"Is everything okay, professor?" Ash asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Yeah, everything's…. okay. I just needed to talk to you about some- well about three things really. The blood samples that I collected from Pidgeot for one-"

Ash winced as he remembered the incident. Pidgeot had been an inch away from demolishing the entire lab when the old professor had communicated his wish to take a vial of blood from her. It had taken a lot of convincing on Ash's side for the objective to be fulfilled. Pidgeot had been rather… offended with him for the rest of the day.

"What about it?"

"Well," The old man scratched the back of his head. "I couldn't really find any negative impacts of this… forceful mega-evolution that Pidgeotto had to undergo. So far, my theory is that _Mewtwo_ was able to channel energies that were _identical_ to those of a _Pidgeot,_ in amounts beyond human comprehension. Such a thing is, in my honest opinion, literally _impossible."_

"I… don't understand." Ash scrunched his face.

Oak frowned. "I confess even I myself am quite at an impasse about the entire thing. This… Mewtwo, is beyond my own scope of comprehension. To have such fantastical reserves is one thing, but to be able to _transmute_ his own energy into something else is…"

"Talk in English, professor." Ash teased.

Oak chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Sorry. What I mean is, this Mewtwo, he transformed his own energy into a _Pidgeot's essence,_ and then channelled it into Pidgeotto at an unimaginable speed, enough to trigger the simultaneous activation of the entirety of Pidgeotto's genetic constitution, even those genes that were obviously dormant in her."

"You mean, like a _Ditto_?" Ash asked. Ditto were a rather new discovery, and something that had grabbed Ash's attention quite a while ago.

"Exactly, like Ditto." Oak brightened. "The patterns of behaviour for this essence are-"

"Okay." Ash tried to keep up.

"—which is exactly what Mega-evolution does, though in this case, it happens for a very limited amount of time. However, the process Mewtwo used simply activated them permanently, the method and cause of which is beyond my ability to decipher."

"Is that why you are leaving for Kalos?"

"Delia told you, did she?"

Ash nodded.

"Yes." Oak admitted. "Augustine is far ahead in his understanding of mega-evolution than I. I have the blood samples with me, so perhaps he will be able to figure out more than what I could."

The trainer hummed. "Well then do say thanks to Professor Sycamore from my side. For Bagon."

"… Of course, of course I will." Oak replied. "Anyway, as far as Magnus is concerned, Bill has assured me that he is running experiments on the DNA samples he had, and has asked for more. I will be sending the ones I have with me to him, if you do not mind."

"Not at all, professor." Ash replied. After all, the Montgomery had helped him a lot by handling Magnus's case effectively. It had breathed new life into him, upon hearing that Magnus was cleared to be used in battle, and there was no need of worrying about the League on that part.

"As for the last thing… I'm afraid. Ash. I cannot help you about Dusclops. I will admit that my knowledge of Ghost-types is rudimentary at best, from a researcher's perspective of course. To be able to _shift_ his persona back into the normal state requires a task more monumental than someone like me can ever handle."

"Does that mean…?" He began, fearing the answer.

"I cannot help her." The professor confessed. "However, there _is_ someone who can."

"Who?"

"Agatha."

Ash's eyes turned to saucers. "Agatha… of the Elite Four?"

Oak arched an eyebrow. "Have you- oh right, she was on the cruise. I remember."

"Yeah." Ash somehow managed to quell his enthusiasm and not spill out Gengar's ancestry in front of the professor. He had conveniently forgotten to mention that little bit when he had talked about his _adventures."_

"Yes, Agatha… Once, I knew her, as a dear friend, I suppose. We have not exchanged words for over a very long time now, but I suppose she might be inclined to do me a favour and look into your situation. If there is anyone who _truly_ understands the ghost-type, it is her."

Ash was oddly reminded of the _strangeness_ of Agatha's shadow back at the cruise.

"You need to visit the Ghost tower of Lavender Town, Ash."

Inwardly, said trainer was wondering how Gengar would react to the news. He hadn't really _understood_ her reaction when he had blurted out about how he would visit Lavender Town during his journey.

"I need to visit Cerulean city first." Ash blurted out, almost surprised at his own subconscious decision. "I suppose I can fly on Pidgeot from there to Lavender Town."

"Actually," Oak interrupted. "If you _really_ need to visit Cerulean city first, then perhaps you should instead take the route 23, one that travels through Cremini Town to Lavender."

"Huh? Why would I do that?" Ash asked in surprise.

Oak grinned, a rather surprising expression on his face. "Look out for the Battle Tower over there. I promise you will like it."

"The… Battle Tower?" Ash repeated.

"It is a new construction, and the only one in Kanto for the time being. Just visit it. Trust me, you will not be disappointed."

Ash frowned at the way the old man was being all evasive about it. "All right, then I guess I will have to walk my way from Cerulean city." He paused. "On second thought, I'll just do that. Aoi will get a better chance to seeing the world that way."

"I do not know about Aoi, but I do know about you, Ash." Oak returned. "The previous time, you were running around from gym to gym without actually living up the adventure that is _also_ a significant part of being a trainer. Consider this a second chance, and enjoy your time in the city."

"Uh… sure." Ash answered, wondering what _Misty_ would say about _Ash Ketchum enjoying_ himself at Cerulean.

Cynthia would probably snort out loud.

"You do that." The old man replied. "Tell me, have you decided which pokémon to take with you?"

That… stopped Ash in his tracks.

"Ash?"

A tiny frown formed on Ash's face.

"Ash?"

He looked up. "I… I don't want to leave anyone behind, professor."

Oak arched an eyebrow. "Ash, I understand that you want all your pokémon to enjoy the journey with you. Even so, surely you realize that with your constant travelling, most of your pokémon will stay within their pokeballs, right?"

Ash opened his mouth, but then shut it.

"I admit if they stay at the ranch, then they wouldn't be able to be with you at all times. However, at the same time, they would be able to stay out of their pokeballs, free to move, free to fight, free to do whatever they want, _along with_ getting access to proper and healthy diet."

"But-"

"You can always rotate your pokémon, maybe every week or so. It's not like you need a PC console to do that." Oak tried.

"I guess…" Ash replied after a moment, his voice low. "I guess you have a point, professor. I'll… just go talk to them, offer them the choice, about who's staying and who'll be joining me later."

Oak pressed the young boy's shoulder. "That would be for the best."

The raven-haired trainer simply stayed silent.

* * *

Sometime later, a somewhat subdued Ash Ketchum stood at the coral, facing his own pokémon who looked at him with a steadfast expression, knowing very well that they would be leaving today on another journey. When he had mentioned about it the previous day, there had been a great cacophony of excitement over it. He didn't know _just_ how disappointed his team would be with his decision.

"Guys…"

Pidgeot let out a loud screech, which was joined in with a mutual growl by Ninetales and Absol. The rest probably didn't care much for it.

"And girls…" Ash chuckled. The tension in his mind lifted up a slight amount.

He looked up at everyone. "As you know… we are going to be starting out on a new journey today. However… I had a talk with the professor and there's something I wish to discuss with all of you. After I am done, you all can think about it and let me know what you wish to do. Is that okay?"

Silent stares awaited further exposition.

Ash cleared his throat. "Well, as you kn0w, we have quite a large group among us, and this journey isn't going to be like the one we had back on the island. I'll be doing a lot of journeying. Some of you remember what it was back then, don't you?"

Shelgon, Poliwhirl, Rhydon and Metagross- the original four of his group let show their agreement to the question.

'That means that most of you would have to stay inside your pokeballs unless I am in a position to release everyone. And even so, releasing _everyone_ might not be an option at all."

Several groans of disappointment filled the atmosphere.

"Hear me out." Ash pleaded. "So, I decided, that half of the team would accompany me on the journey, while the other half would remain here-"

The cacophony increased in volume.

"LET ME FINISH!"

Silence.

"Sorry." Ash apologised. "As I was saying, I'd take half of you with me. That would mean a greater chance for me to release you out every day, multiple times. Those that would stay here, would be able to stay out of their pokeballs all day, spending the entire day at the coral, doing whatever you like. Plus, I remember you liking Professor Oak's food more than my own."

He paused. "Pidgeot… will be able to fly all day without restraint. Rhydon, Lairon, Magnus—you guys can brawl around all day without a care in the world. Gyarados, Poliwhirl, you can sleep inside the pool, as long as you like. The same goes for everyone else."

He could already see the gears running for some of those in the back.

"Besides, it's not like I'll leaving you here for long. Every week, I'll be sending the group that stayed with me to the coral, and calling the ones at the coral to myself. That way, we can all enjoy the entire journey, and at the same time, you will get the maximum chance of staying out in the open."

The cacophony had now reduced significantly.

"However, this is only what _I think_ should be done. If you guys disagree with me, then I will take all of you- no strings attached. However, I already told you. Staying with me would mean staying in pokeballs for a lot. Staying here would mean staying the open, with better food and lot of time to play and train yourselves."

Silence grazed the entire area.

"I'll… leave you to think on it. I'll see you after a while, before I leave." He mumbled, before turning around, and trudging away, not daring to look back.

* * *

The moment Delia saw the downcast expression on her son's face, she knew that something was wrong. Over the last four days, she had gotten to see a different side of her son—the side that took risks, faced disaster with nothing but courage, and kept secrets from everyone. She knew that he had talked a lot about his journeys in great detail, but at the same time, she knew that there were several holes in his entire story—holes that covered important portions that he had decided to hide from her. However, she had never really seen such an expression on his face, not even when-

"Ash?" She spoke up from her chair. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Her son mumbled.

"Did professor Oak say something? Is something wrong with Pidgeot?"

Ash instantly looked up in refusal. "Not at all. Pidgeot's perfectly all right." He sighed. "It's just that, with my team being as large as it is, I'll have to leave half of them behind, and while I understand that it is only for my team's welfare, I'm not sure if they will take it the same way."

He looked away, not even willing to admit the old professor's words about pokémon judging their trainer's worth had been swirling in his mind ever since he had the talk with his team. Would they judge him as incompetent? Shouldn't he… as their trainer, be responsible for making sure that they got all the benefits?

"Ash…" Delia spoke softly, pressing his shoulders with her palm, as she stood in front of him, staring squarely at his downcast face. "You do know right, that without this… privilege that you have of keeping up to twenty pokémon with yourself, you would have been limited to carrying six at any point of time?"

Her son jerked his head in silent acceptance. "I know, but that way, I'd know that there's no chance of me having them with me all the time. I feel like I've promised them something and am now backing out of it."

"They are your team, right?" Delia asked. "Just like you care for them, they care for you as well, right?"

"I…. I think so."

"They do." Delia confirmed it for him. "And besides, you will rotate them on weekly basis. Wont you?"

"Of course I would." Ash replied, glancing up at her, his eyes narrowed in indignation. "How can you even ask me that?"

Delia chuckled. "Just checking." She reached out and hugged him. "Then, don't worry. Your team will come to a decision, and they will be happy about it."

Ash didn't say anything, and simply hugged her back.

"Also, there is something that I need to tell you." His mother replied in his ear.

"What?"

"Will you mind having Alakazam join you on your journey?"

That surprised him, as he stepped back. "Alakazam? Why would he-?"

"Would you mind?" Delia repeated.

"Of—of course not. But why would he join me when he can-?"

Delia chuckled. "It seems like your love for adventure and battle has corrupted my little Kadabra. Staying at the lab and honing his skills no longer entices him as it used to. With his evolution, he needs to hone his skills and power in battle." She paused. "To be honest with you, it was what I had hoped for when I sent him to you back then."

Ash arched an eyebrow. "You thought he'd evolve and develop a craze for battle?"

Delia laughed. "Of course not. I just thought he'd realize that there is a difference between stagnation and perfection. It seems… whatever happened back there, did the job, and now Alakazam wants more of it."

"Great." Ash groaned, though he knew it, and his mother knew it, that he was happy about the sarcastic psi joining his team.

"I suppose I need to transfer ownership to you, to avoid any complications with the league." Delia muttered. "We can get that done when you reach the Ranch to get your pokémon."

He paused in realization. "Damn. I never thought I'd choose the day when _Kadabra_ would crave adventure. Kirlia maybe, but him? Never."

Delia's lips twitched in amusement. "Don't get any funny ideas, Ash Ketchum. I will not allow your craziness to spoil my delicate Kirlia."

"I thought her name was Delcatty." He taunted, knowing very well how Kirlia hated that moniker. The last time he had mentioned it, her vengeance had lasted for a month. That little pixie had some _really_ interesting ways to extract her revenge, the sadistic little thing that she was.

"KIRL!" An indignant yell came from the other room.

"Why didn't you tell me she was inside?" He accused loudly. "Now she'll hold that over me for a long, long time."

Delia smirked. "Must have missed it."

"Of course." Her son muttered under his breath.

"Have you decided where you are headed to?"

Ash nodded his head. "Lavender Town. I need to get to Cerulean city first, and from there, I'll take the Route 23."

"Hmmm… Cerulean huh? Isn't that the same place where this Misty girl lives?" She teased.

"Uh… yeah?" Ash returned obliviously. "I wanted to meet her first."

Delia rolled her eyes. Maybe she had expected a little too much too early from her oblivious child. "Nothing. Get yourself ready. I will get you some sandwiches prepared for your journey."

"Uh… thanks Mom." He muttered, before rushing up the stairs to his room, leaving a smiling Delia behind.

* * *

The rest of the morning had passed in a blur. Between packing his clothes once again (the addition of the extra storage contraption was a life-saver), and getting himself stocked of medicines, equipment, potions, berries from the Oak ranch amongst other things, midday had arrived faster than he had anticipated.

And finally, he was ready.

"Don't forget your Cap."

Of course. How could he? That wasn't even something that could count as a rhetorical question. After all, this was an official Pokémon league cap that he had gotten after sending over a hundred stamped letters to the League years ago, though the fact that he had put multiple stamps, _all_ of them at wrong places on single letters, and repeated the process, might have something to do with it. For all he knew, his mother might have sent a single, properly-stamped letter to the League and gotten one for him. Either way, the Cap ranked third on his list of most prestigious possessions – the tear-drop ornament containing the Lunar Wing that he had gotten from Cynthia, and the book on Metagross he had gotten from Steven, being the top-two on the list.

"And now, it is time for the last part, I guess." Delia muttered, lifting out a pokeball, as she clicked the release button. "Come out, Alakazam!"

"Alaka!" The psi pokémon yelled out, as he materialized into existence, before turning towards Ash. _**Midget.**_

"I seem to hear that you became a fan of my sense of adventure." Ash asked coolly.

 _ **Oh certainly not. Delia here simply asked me to consider the safety of a delicate flower such as yourself while I attain battle experience as is my right.**_

"Ah, of course. Battle Experience. That must have come in from fighting fire demons and ghosts, wouldn't it?"

 _ **You always had a vivid imagination. Clearly a boon for an otherwise retarded individual as pleasant as yourself.**_

Delia rolled her eyes at the wordplay and interchange of insults. "All right, enough of it, you two. I want the two of you to take care of each other."

 _ **I believe you are talking about his physical health. His mental health was rendered beyond treatment a decade ago.**_

"Yeah? Like your-" Ash began heatedly.

"All right. That is enough, you two." Delia intervened looking like she would suffer an aneurysm any moment now. She lifted up Alakazam's pokeball. "Alakazam, return." The psi sighed in resignation before getting sucked into the device.

"Well," she stared at Ash with a deadpan. "Do you know how to trade or not?"

Ash swallowed. "Um… yeah."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Without wasting another moment, he plucked out one of his remaining fastballs and placed them on his end of the trading machine, reminding himself to purchase a bunch of pokeballs from Cerulean, for emergency purposes if nothing else.

Delia placed Alakazam's pokeball on her end, before activating the transfer process. After several beeps and blinks, the transfer of ownership was complete.

"It should be registered on your profile in a while." She paused. "I think."

"That's okay." Ash muttered, wondering for a moment why his mom had never chosen the path of a pokémon trainer. After all, she was pretty knowledgeable about pokémon battling, from whatever little discussions they had had together on the subject. Delia wasn't an avid fan of talking about it.

"Now I just need to sort things out with my pokémon." He muttered.

"I'll help you." Delia pressed his shoulder, before pulling his hand into her own, dragging him out to the ranch.

* * *

"All right, back off everyone. If I get trampled, then no one's going anywhere and you all will be stuck here forever!"

Delia chuckled at her son's way of addressing the crowd. However, it seemed to work for his team anyway, since most of the team simply backed off without further delay.

"Right." Ash sighed. "Did you guys make a decision?"

An overwhelming cacophony answered his prayers.

"SILENCE!"

Every single pokémon on the team blinked owlishly at Delia, who had yelled out. "Silence!" She repeated. "Now…" She turned to Ash, nodding at him to continue.

"Uh… okay." Ash mumbled, reminding him not to piss his mom. They say that pokémon were often a self-portrait of their trainer, and if the traits of his mother's pokémon were anything to go by, it simply confirmed his unwavering belief that Delia Ketchum was a bad person to offend, even on a good day, her overtly caring outlook be damned.

"You guys know right that I am proud of each and every one of you?" He paused, receiving several screeches and grunts in answer, "No matter what you decide, that will not change. Now… Metagross, can you please translate for the crowd?"

 _ **With pleasure, trainer Ash. The community, that is the mindless beasts included, decided to agree to your superior knowledge and wisdom regarding this particular matter.**_

Ash arched an eyebrow. "And any particular reason for this change of heart?"

 _ **The psi might have mentioned something about a delicate flower being sensitive. Apart from that, it is mainly our own wish.**_

Ash rolled his eyes. "Right." He took a deep breath. "Either way, thank you for supporting me in this decision. Those that I choose to leave behind, I will call you back very soon. I give you my word on that."

Another shout of agreement met his declaration.

"Very well." Ash paused. "I need Shelgon, Magnus, Metagross, Crawdaunt, Absol and Gengar to come with me. We are heading for Lavender Town," he stared at Gengar as he mentioned it, but strangely, there was no reaction on her face- "to meet the Elite Four Agatha to make sure that Dusclops gets healed. I will be taking Trevenant and Dusclops with me for that."

That meant that Poliwhirl, Rhydon, Lairon, Gyarados, Zweilous and Pidgeot were going to stay back for the time being.

"Once I am done with Lavender Town, I will do a swap, I promise."

Pidgeot let out a nasty screech, which Ash translated to… _'You'd better'._

He swallowed. "Of course."

Aoi gave him a sharp look. _**What about me?**_

 _You'll be coming with me as well. I did promise you that. However, I might need to swap you in the future._

Aoi frowned. _**All right.**_

"I should tell you guys that Alakazam has decided to join us, no matter what he thinks is the reason. "Ash frowned, though it was vividly half-hearted. "He will be accompanying me for a while as well."

"Met—Taaaa!" The iron leg pokémon let out a vocal agreement.

"Well, that's settled, then." Ash grinned, holding up the pokeballs in his hands. "Get in."

* * *

 **AN: My shortest chapter to date, but trust me, it was rather difficult to write. This is the third rewrite of what started as Version 1 for chapter 25. Anyway, next chapter starts with Cerulean soon. Hope you liked the chapter and if so, please put in a review.**

 **Thanks.**


	26. Feelings

**Two days after Ash left Pallet Town.**

"The rest was pretty much anti-climactic, you know." Ash almost chuckled. "Aoi decided that she'd join me because it would get her closer to her purpose, though I think it might have something to do with getting a nice lap to curl on."

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. The two were having a quick chat via Pokenav technology. Ever since she had departed from Sulphur Island, she had kept in regular contact with him, having called him thrice already in the next two weeks that followed. This was, their fifth long-ranged conversation so far.

"You have an ancient Ninetales accompanying you because she likes to sleep on your lap?"

"And the bed. Seriously, most of the times she is like a spoiled little princess." Ash chuckled, his fingers caressing the soft, smooth, golden fur that rested on his lap as he himself sat against the edge of the tent.

"I can't help but feel slightly jealous of her." Cynthia scrunched her face, wondering why she was feeling… wary about a _Ninetales_ of all things. The last time she had made contact with him, he had informed her about him reaching home and defeating some over bloated disaster of a trainer known as Gary Oak. There had been no mention of the sleek, golden-haired creature that rested on Ash's lap, seemingly uncaring enough to even glance at the person her trainer was conversing with. It was almost like a jealous female, trying to show down the people she considered threats. Cynthia silently thanked whatever deities she trusted in, that Ash wasn't into Pokephilia or anything as such.

…

…

 _Was he?_

Said Ninetales, it must be noted, simply coiled a little more, before pushing her snout into Ash's hand, gurgling a little, paying no attention (superficially at least) to the fact that her relationship with Ash was the subject of discussion.

"Huh? Why would you say that?" Ash asked, oblivious.

Cynthia let out a breath. That was the closest thing she would get to a confirmation that her inner fears about Ash being pokephilic were untrue. "Nothing of importance. Tell me, where are you now?"

"Somewhere between Cerulean City and Cremini Town, I think. It's been a rather long couple of days to be exact."

"I thought you were planning to head towards Lavender." Cynthia observed coolly.

Ash swallowed. Ever since Cynthia had come clear with her own feelings towards him, _something_ about their mutual relationship had changed. Of course, there had been… _significant_ events that very night in Cynthia's tent, but more importantly, Ash had come across an entirely different shade of her personality.

The Cynthia that was heavily possessive, to the point of being called a control-freak, when it came to anything involving _Ash Ketchum._ The Cynthia who was much more impulsive, and much more prone to acting on her emotions than the calm, calculated Sinnoh Champion that had trained him for the better part of the week they had spent together.

"Well, Professor Oak told me to go to Cremini Town first… and check out this place called the Battle Tower."

" _Is he crazy?"_ Cynthia hissed.

"Huh?" Ash automatically fell stiff, alarmed at her reaction. Aoi, suddenly finding her bed shift in texture, let out an irritated purr.

"Ash!" Cynthia hissed. "Do you even know _what_ a Battle Tower is?"

Ash shrugged. "He wouldn't tell me. He just said that I'd like the surprise."

Cynthia groaned at the obliviousness of her… well, boy-friend. She had almost called him her _lovable toy-friend._ In her mind, Ash Ketchum _belonged_ to her, and Cynthia Shirona didn't like to share her _belongings_ with others. Of course, she would do _anything_ for him, but Arceus help anyone who tried to mess with Ash, whom she _owned._

"Ash, participating in a Battle Tower serves only one single purpose. To evaluate yourself on the basis of a League-level trainer."

"Huh?" Ash thought.

"Huh?" Ash said.

See? At times, Ash Ketchum's mind and mouth did work in absolute synchronicity.

Cynthia shook her head. It seemed that it would require further exposition. "Ash, if you participate in a Battle-tower event, it means that you choose a team of _eight pokémon,_ your fucking-best team ever, and fight whatever comes ahead to challenge you. I know for a fact that the one in Celestic Town has seven tiers, with each tier having its own set of challengers and rules."

"That's… interesting." Ash muttered, nodding at her to continue.

"You don't get even a moment to relax. The moment you manage to win a tier, you move up via the elevator to the next level, which has its own set of challengers. The aim is to go ahead and defeat the one on the seventh tier, who's called the Tower Tycoon of the Battle Tower, and trust me, that person is almost at the level of an Elite Four."

 _The fuck?_ Ash thought. "So… seven battles continuously with my team of eight pokémon?"

Cynthia shook her head. "Seven _challenges._ Each challenge might have more than one battle. In fact, you can trust that it will have more than one battle, and there are specialized rules for every challenge."

"That's… cool." Ash grinned. "It will be a good way to see just how far me and my team has gotten, after all this while and-"

He paused, as it hit him. Cynthia wasn't refuting. Instead, she was smiling peacefully through her eyes. He calmly waited for the bomb to drop.

"Depending upon your performance at the Tower, changes are made to your trainer profile. The challenges you face at the Gyms will be modified appropriately."

"Talk English, Cynthia."

Said person rolled her eyes. "What do you think the gym leaders do? Just throw up the same pokémon against all types of trainers?"

"Uh…."

"No they don't." Cynthia answered her own question before Ash could begin to do so. "Your trainer profile shows how experienced you are. There are four divisions- newbie for someone who has gotten less than three badges, and trainer-experience less than six months. You call it _handicap_ in Kanto. The gym leaders just use their weakest pokémon for battling."

"Oh." Ash muttered. Suddenly, all of the sense of accomplishment he had gotten from winning the three badges he had in his pocket felt… emptier, and pale.

"Six badges or more, you are treated as an intermediate-level. That's most of the people you'll meet on your journey."

"Uh-huh."

"And then there are those who had already been into a conference, possibly past the Top-64 level, and are trying again, whether in their own region or a new one. They are basically what you'd call a senior-level trainer."

"Oh." He wondered if Paul perhaps qualified for that level.

"Such trainers usually end up fighting the stronger teams of the Gym leaders, usually some of their top-battlers." She paused. "However, if you have gotten past the Top-4 in one or more conferences, then you qualify for the position of _Elite Trainer._ You better not expect anything but the bloody best pokémon when battling the gym leaders."

So Paul…. Ash wondered… _Paul faced Cynthia in the semi-finals. Years ago. That means he is an Elite level trainer. No wonder his team looked so strong._

"So what would the results of the Battle Tower do to my own level?" Ash mused.

Cynthia considered her words. If she made a mistake, it might sound way too discouraging, and that was the last thing she needed. "If you… let us say, managed to win the third tier and move to fourth one, chances are that you would be treated like an _intermediate_ -level trainer by the gyms, or…" she paused, remembering the level of dedication Ash's team had shown during the training, as well as the naturally powerful pokémon that he boasted. "—or, _senior-level_ trainer, should you manage to win the Level 5 as well."

That stopped Ash's breath. "You mean… the gyms would be using really, really powerful pokémon against my own?"

"… Yes."

Ash stayed silent for a while. For some reason, Cynthia had this feeling that the outcome wouldn't be one to her liking.

"I'll do it."

Cynthia closed her eyes. She knewthis would happen. With exaggerated slowness, she took in several deep breaths. "And… why?"

"Because that is exactly what I need." Came the petulant answer.

"Ash?" Her irritation was beginning to show. "You are a newbie. I get it that you have a powerful team, and that you have trained them to be quite powerful, but that doesn't mean you'd throw away the advantages that you get as a newbie. You'd face problems fighting gyms in which your friends would have gotten victories with lesser effort."

"Petty."

Cynthia arched an eyebrow.

"Those advantages… are petty. They would not help me against Mewtwo. I need to be strong. If I cannot defeat a gym leader's team made for an intermediate or senior trainer, then what good will I fare against someone like Mewtwo?"

"Ash?" Cynthia felt a blood vessel burst. "Ash, we have been through this. Challenging and battling Mewtwo is-"

"—my own personal battle and irrelevant to our discussion." Ash pronounced.

Cynthia stared, scrutinizing him with her eyes.

Ash stared back, defiant.

Several seconds passed by.

Finally, the Sinnoh Champion let out a sigh. "I should have expected this. Very well, there is no point in trying to convince you otherwise. I might just end up pushing you to win the Battle Tower for all I know. You pulled out that fucking Dragonite against Mewtwo. I know the risk of battling odds against you."

Ash grinned shamelessly. "For the record, do people even manage to win at a Battle Tower?"

This time, Cynthia grinned. "Of course they do. Those _people_ are known as the _Elite Four."_

* * *

In the tent just beside Ash's own, Misty Waterflower was having a rather sleepless night- not something she was… unfamiliar with. Ever since the events of St. Anne, sleepless nights had become sort of… common for her, considering the alternate was to face the terrible nightmares that affected her when she tried to shut her eyes to get some sleep.

Or at least, that had been the usual routine until her elder sisters had taken notice of it, and suggested psychic-treatment, something she had, unwillingly so, attended. The nightmares had effectively decremented after that.

However, the reason for her temporary insomnia for the present was not the nightmares from her experience on the St. Anne, but more because of her experience over the last two days, one that had started with a surprise visit from the one person she had never expected.

Ash Ketchum.

Her family, the Waterflowers, had established a serious level of investment into Cerulean city, literally becoming a part of the city over several generations. Not as heavily tied as the Pebblemann family of Pewter or the Ainsworth of Lavender Town, but somewhere close to that. Over the last three generations, the Cerulean Gym had passed from father to son or daughter until it fell to Daisy, the eldest daughter of Charles Waterflower. However, Daisy had always been an exhibitionist sort of person, preferring to choose Pokémon contests and Showcases rather than the dreary gym leader position. However, with the unfortunate deaths of her parents, she had been forced to take up the position, if albeit unwillingly.

Three years later, her sisters Violet and Lily had finished with their professional education from Pokémon Tech Academy, a rather illustrious school located close to Saffron City, made for the elite population- people who could afford the rather high costs so that their children would be able to become a full-fledged Pokémon trainer, without having to resort to living in the wilderness that came to be associated with the life of a trainer. Having returned as Top-8 trainers in the Indigo Conference, they had applied to the Indigo League for professional training to be inducted into the ranks of the Gym leader position, which they had acquired after a strenuous year of diligence. That was how Cerulean Gym got its _three_ Gym leaders, instead of one—so that they could keep on with their showcases, events and still make sure that the Cerulean Gym had a gym leader to accept challenges.

Misty however, was different. She had _always been different._

Oh, she had attended Pokémon Tech just like her elder sisters, but unlike them, she hadn't followed the path of a League-trainer, but that of an aspiring water-master. Right from the moment when the little Horsea had saved her life from one of Violet's vicious Tentacruel when she was three, Misty had developed undying love and attraction towards the water-type and water-type pokémon in general.

Today that brave, little Horsea was a Kingdra, a true queen regnant of the seas.

Of course, she had always known that she wasn't as _pretty_ as her elder sisters. Plus, her own divergent ways had faced judgement at her sister's hands, something that slowly developed into a complex in the years that followed. She had applied for an internship under the famous Lorelei of the Elite four, but Lorelei would not accept anyone less than fifteen in terms of age. The lack of positive compliments from them, along with her own… slightly dominating behaviour, hadn't really endeared her to most people of her own age.

Hence, it had been rather surprising to have found a… dare she call it, a _friend_ , in Ash Ketchum. Someone who was of the opposite gender, and didn't drift away from her on sheer principle. And importantly, he wasn't a water-type pokémon either.

Misty had been both elated, and mortified beyond comprehension.

Maybe that was why she had believed, that despite her limited interaction with the somewhat oblivious boy, that maybe, just maybe in the future, they would interact again. Maybe she wouldn't just be forgotten as an afterthought. Not by him.

Then the once-in-a-lifetime offer of a chance to travel on a cruise ship came to her.

She had quickly traversed over Viridian, Pewter and Vermillion, winning three badges, enough to get herself a quick ticket. Of course, it wasn't like she had _hoped_ to see him there, or that she had been _way too happy_ to see them. Nope, the sudden vibes of excitement that she had felt on seeing him were simply from the battle-experience and nothing else, no matter what others might be inclined to say.

But of course, finding Ash Ketchum (despite being defeated by him) was a good thing, and so had the couple of days after the battle been as well. Though, after his defeat against Harrison, Ash had gone all recluse for the next two days (despite her attempts to the contrary), and then suddenly shown up at the party at the Banquet Hall. Misty had a sneaking suspicion that _Shirona_ (or rather Cynthia, if she was being direct) had something to do with it.

Cynthia. Cynthia Shirona. The Champion of Sinnoh. A _Champion_ , had demonstrated _feminine interest_ in her friend Ash, something that for an oddly unexplainable reason, had _pinched_ Misty, a sensation that she decided she did not like.

And then the attack happened. An attack that literally blew away whatever childish innocence lingered within her growing personality, and made her face the harsh truth of life around them. Seeing so many people get injured, seeing bodies fallen left and right, seeing pokémon at their primal form, controlled by cruel masters, and all for the sake of a demonstration of power….

An anathema during which she had seen her friend get badly injured, while she herself had been _literally forced_ to leave the cruise along with the other passengers. She would have forced her opinion but she had been entrusted with the task of their safe passage as well.

Naturally, it was rather shocking for her, when she had found Ash Ketchum standing at the door to the main gym. Two days ago.

* * *

 **Two days ago.**

Misty stared hard on the floor, reciting all her techniques to heart once more. A week from now, she would need to be present at Pokémon Tech, for her annual examinations. Just one more year, and she could call herself a graduate from the Academy, and begin her path as an apprentice under a Water Master, or Lorelei, if she was extremely lucky.

In front of her, in the giant pool of water, the mighty Kingdra floated, with her opponent, the large belief-defying _red_ Gyarados, stood with her head raised tall, her maw concentrating a sphere of concentrated draconic energy.

"Kingdra, use Flash Cannon. Gyarados, use Dragon pulse." Misty commanded, pitting the two juggernauts against each other.

"Misty? Misty?"

"Yes?" Misty drawled out, her expressions instantly shifting to a frown. She recognized the incomer as Harry, one of the new boys Violet was hanging out with. Harry was, in Misty's own humble opinion, a right jerk. Then again, it wasn't like Violet had decent taste in men anyway.

"Someone's at the door. You should go and perform the duties. God knows that Violet manages it most of the time."

Misty failed to keep her left eye from twitching at the thinly-veiled insult. In a loud but clear tone, she yelled back, without caring to look at the person who had just walked in.

"If you are here for a gym battle, come tomorrow."

There, that should do it. Either way the trainer would more than likely, settle for a free badge, and Misty didn't really want to meet someone like that. She had seen way too many of those to last a lifetime.

 _Not all of them are like Ash._ She thought inwardly.

"And what if I do not want a battle?" A rather amused but extremely familiar voice retorted to her statement.

Misty widened her eyes, as she recognized the voice, spinning back to face the person she least-expected to meet at the Cerulean gym of all places. Her face lit up, as her prayers were answered, and all doubts vanished on spot. She barely noticed her own lips twisting into a bright grin as she took in the person's frame.

Ash Ketchum stood on the doorway.

Before she knew it, she was already sprinting off, crossing the rapidly-diminishing distance between them, as she threw her arms over his neck, grappling him in a tight bear-hug.

"Ash!"

She could consciously feel his strong abdominal muscles against her softer frame, as she felt Ash put his left hand on her back, stepping back to keep himself from falling off to the ground.

* * *

 **Present day. Back with Ash.**

 _That fucking tramp! I knew she was a hussy when I met her…_ Cynthia mentally growled, as Ash narrated the events that had happened over the last two days since he had left Pallet Town. She took a deep breath.

" _Why the hell did you even need to visit her of all people?"_ Cynthia didn't say. Instead, she put on her best fake geniality and asked, "I am wondering what might have brought you to Cerulean instead of… Cremini Town directly?"

Aoi slowly twisted her elegant neck towards Cynthia and let out a soft purr, almost as if she instinctively knew and agreed with the mental rant the blonde-haired girl was going through, in her mind.

"Well, I didn't really get to know what happened to her after what happened on the Anne. I was just worried."

 _Of course he was._ Cynthia ranted, and the hussy took undue advantage of that. She remembered Misty very well. From the very beginning, she had noticed the slightly dominating personality and the way Misty would take enjoyment when her pokémon were giving Ash a difficult time during the battle. The fact that it was a _battle_ didn't even register on the Sinnoh girl's mind for the time being. Of course, she _completely forgot_ that she herself enjoyed wiping the floor with Ash just as well.

 _Perhaps Ash has a masochist streak in him? Then again, he admires dominating and strong women… he certainly did like my own._ She pondered.

And pondered.

And then some more.

Then of course, her red hair. Bright red. Attracts so much attention. Short, bright red hair with pigtails. Cynthia calmly wondered if Ash preferred pigtails over her long, flowing hair. What good were pigtails anyway? And then there was the third thing—her overly short skirt, allowing her long legs up for show.

Cynthia silently added a point to her list. _I'm so not wearing the long, black dress when I meet Ash next time. They block everything._

But that was for later. For now, Ash was speaking.

"—and she was asking about why I hadn't made any contact with her for the last two months. I suppose she was really worried and all that." Ash went on, oblivious to the mental tangents that Cynthia went off, every single time he finished a sentence. Of course, the Sinnoh Champion wasn't the only one inside the tent that was suffering from that peculiar syndrome.

The beautiful Ninetales in question, or Aoi, as she preferred, was one of the victims as well.

Oh, how she _vehemently_ hated being in that situation.

* * *

 **Back to the pool. Two days ago.**

Aoi gritted her teeth as the random, red-haired female grappled her trainer in a tight hug, almost enough to send him falling down to the floor. While she had been somewhat… ambivalent over her decision to join Ash Ketchum, the fringes of doubt had slowly evaporated from Aoi's mind on finding out the type of person her trainer was, and truth be told, she was having a better time than she had back on the island, even before the catastrophe had taken birth. Over the last couple of days, she had even managed to come to a… mutual stalling with the void-using feline, deciding to stop hostilities at least for the near future. The white-furred feline had initially been difficult, but Aoi supposed that Ash Ketchum had a way of making things work out, considering how the feline would be reduced to putty when he would start one of his usual rubs. Aoi could understand, she herself was a victim of those rubs after all.

Back to the present situation however...

"Ash!" The skank was muttering. "I thought I lost you back there on the ship. I tried to inquire about you, but got nothing."

Aoi heard her oblivious trainer chuckle. "I made it back to Kanto just a week ago."

"Huh?" The vixen pushed herself away, if only by a few inches. "What were you doing all that time?"

 _Not your business._ Aoi didn't say.

"I was in a coma for a while, and then…" Ash replied somewhat evasively. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to share out all the information. It wasn't like he didn't trust her. It was just… there was no reason to share it at all.

A shadow of a grin floated on Aoi's face, as she read her trainer's thoughts. Perhaps he wasn't that much of a simpleton after all.

"A coma? Are you all right now?" the vixen yelled, holding Ash's arms tightly.

"Yeah—yeah, I am."

"And I finally get to know about it now? Two months later? I thought you and me were good-"

" _Nine!"_ Aoi had enough. The vixen was trespassing on her private space, and allowing that would be sacrilege for one such as herself.

Ash twisted his neck to turn towards the Ninetales, freezing midway, as he found himself the object for a deathly-cold glare. It was almost like-

 _Wait._

An odd idea germinated into his mind, something that felt slightly foreign, and he took a step back. Aoi's glare and her direction didn't shift by the slightest.

Conclusion. She wasn't glaring at him, but rather at…

 _Misty._

Said redhead seemed to have finally noticed Aoi's vengeful glare, and taken a step away from said trainer. 'Uh… I didn't know you had a Ninetales, Ash."

"Aoi." Ash corrected automatically. "She's… she joined me very recently, and is affectionate like you wouldn't believe."

Almost as if to prove his point, Aoi rubbed her cheek against his shirt, making her trainer chuckle and give her an affectionate rub with his fingers, making the Ninetales purr softly.

Misty arched an eyebrow. The pokémon sure looked cosy and comfortable in that position, especially for someone who had joined the team around a week ago.

"Uh… hello, Aoi."

Said creature didn't deign to acknowledge back, which would probably explain the frown clouding Misty's face.

"I have, well—started out to continue my journey across Kanto once again, though I'm heading towards Route 23. I thought it would be nice to you know… see you once again."

Misty told herself that the sudden red that appeared on her cheeks were due to the somewhat peculiar weather pattern of Cerulean city. Nothing else.

"Especially with what happened back at the Anne." Ash muttered, more to himself than to her. "Did you know that Harrison is missing?"

The blissful expression faded from Misty's face. "Missing? You mean he is-"

"We fought together on the Anne," Ash replied, and from what Steven and Cynthia told me, he left for his hometown on his Blastoise. There has been no communication from him ever since."

"Maybe he was injured or something." Misty tried to rationalize the situation, frowning.

"Misty, Harrison never reached Little Root Town. Even Professor Birch could find a trace of him anywhere."

Misty felt her throat constrict. "Do you think he's-"

"I don't know," Ash admitted, scowling to himself. "I won't stop looking around though, until I manage to find some lead into the situation. I asked Steven and Professor Oak to look around as well."

Misty frowned. The entire thing seemed way too ominous for her tastes. "Don't worry. I will see what I can do as well. Harrison was a close acquaintance for me too."

"You would?" Ash looked grateful. "It would be great if you could use your contacts as a gym leader and everything."

Misty nodded. Wanting to shift from the distinctly uncomfortable topic, she decided to switch the content. "Where are you heading for? "

"Lavender Town. I'd have just teleported there from here, but Professor Oak suggested me to visit Cremini Town."

"Lavender Town?" Misty turned a little stiff. "Don't tell me you are still looking to capture ghost pokémon."

"Oh, not that, I'm already past that. It's just…"

"Another long story?"

"... Yeah."

"Thought so." Misty replied dryly. "So what changed?"

"I'm heading towards this Battle Tower."

"You mean that large building that's out of bounds for Gym leaders?"

"I… really couldn't say. I myself don't really know what it is about."

"Figures." she muttered, before an idea germinated inside her mind. "Say Ash, would you mind me accompanying you for your trip?"

"Uhm..."

"I need to visit my Academy which is close to Saffron city. I was initially planning to teleport there, but it would be nice to journey with you all the way as well."

 _Of course you would like that, you skank._ Aoi thought inwardly.

"But I'm not going to Saffron." Ash returned, frowning. "I need to stop by at Lavender Town, and well, it might take some time over there."

 _Yeah, beat it._ The golden-haired creature mentally sneered.

Misty stayed silent. "I… suppose I will just continue alone from Lavender. Shouldn't be long."

Ash shrugged. "You could do that, I suppose."

"So when are you leaving?"

"I…" Ash looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I was thinking of taking a day off and see what the city has to offer. I also needed to visit the Pokemart for some purchases, but that is most of it."

Misty grinned. For some reason, Aoi didn't think she would like the reason behind it.

* * *

 **Back to the present.**

"I am really having trouble trying to imagine _Ash Ketchum_ so insistent on having fun." Cynthia declared. "What did you choose to do anyway? "

Ash muttered something incomprehensible under his breath.

"A little louder please?"

Aoi sighed. All those sad memories…

"Gyarados surfing."

And the temperature suddenly dropped a couple of degrees. A fascinating thing, considering how the person responsible for it was thousands of miles away in Sinnoh, and had no direct or indirect effect on Kanto's environmental patterns. Then again, perhaps it was the deathly cold glare that Cynthia was emanating.

"And I suppose this was… _your_ own idea?"

"Not… really." The oblivious boy-friend admitted. "She asked me what I felt about surfing, and I told her that I have done some in the past. She was insistent on a round on her Gyarados. That was all."

 _Clever girl._ Cynthia whispered, a dangerous tone lining her voice. "Did you tell her about me?"

"I did."

"And?"

Ash shrugged. "She didn't think it was a big deal. Or at least, that's what it looked. I don't understand what the problem here is."

Cynthia and Aoi sighed in resignation.

* * *

 _Cynthia Shirona._

Misty hated that name. Enough said.

Now that she thought about, lying all alone inside her tent, she couldn't help but feel cheated out. After all, she knew Ash first, and became friends with him first. And now this _Miss Sinnoh_ comes loitering in, out of fucking nowhere, and snags him away. What was worse, apparently they had stayed at some uninhabited island for a week, and now they were a couple. Despite her best attempts, her mind couldn't help but go back and wonder _exactly what_ had happened between the two of them.

 _That… that blonde-haired cougar!_ Misty raged.

She had asked Ash out of honest curiosity where he had gotten the experience of Gyarados-surfing prior to this, since from what she remembered, Ash had initially been _really_ wary of Gyarados. It was only after her own attempts and getting said creature get reduced to a lovable Growlithe that Ash had gained some amount of confidence over the fact that yeah, he had a Gyarados who, he could command without fearing about being eaten alive.

All the hopes for having fun had instantly evaporated from her mind, the moment she had heard about Ash's new _girl-friend,_ Cynthia Shirona.

Misty turned her head towards the other side. Despite it being quite late at night, she could still hear whispers coming out of Ash's tent. No doubt the bitch was trying to make sure that he wouldn't get someone better than her.

 _And there's those two pokémon. God knows what's wrong with them._ Misty scowled to herself.

Misty sniffed, before pulling the covers over herself.

* * *

Aoi knew for a fact that her trainer wasn't into Pokephilia. It was rather unfortunate, but at least, she had known it pretty soon, so it didn't hurt her motives that much. Had he really been… into such things, he would have had a really hard time with his personal goals, considering the enormous cat-fight that would have resulted between herself and that pearly-white, void-using feline. However, her trainer had shared the tenets of his relationship with Cynthia after the conversation that he had had with the girl on his second day of return to Pallet Town.

Well, at least that meant that she didn't have to worry about some pearly-white feline trying to snag her trainer's attention away from her at all times. Why, after the realization that he already had a prospective mate, Aoi had had a rather _comprehensive_ discussion over _Ash,_ and decided to call it a stalemate between each other. They had decided that they would share their trainer's time between each other, and make sure that none other interfering entities snagged their trainer away. Absol had initially been difficult, very, very difficult about it.

And then she had jumped into accepting her proposition when Aoi had informed (with her best smug impression) about how a redheaded vixen was trying to _significantly_ reduce their _Ash-time_ from them.

After the entire episode of Gyarados-riding, followed by sun-bathing (Who knew that such a beautiful thing even existed?), she had followed her trainer (and the annoying vixen) to the Cerulean Pokemart. Of course, the people at the Pokemart were all _captivated_ by her beauty.

Aoi smirked at the memory.

She couldn't help it if her purring was so… attractive that it drew attention so much, that between buying TM, food, potions and the like, and answering the other people that yes, this beatific creature indeed _belonged_ to him, and yes, he was her trainer… that the annoying redhead was forgotten in the crowd.

As she said, she couldn't help it. Ask Absol, she'd know.

On second thought… it wouldn't be a good idea. Absol weren't the kind of creatures that attracted eye-turning attention. And Aoi didn't really want to hurt the sentiments of her somewhat-temporary ally against the annoyance.

Aoi sighed. The things she had to do.

Her trainer and the annoyance had walked separate ways after evening, with Ash moving back to the Pokémon center and Misty returning to her home. The next day, they had met again, and begun their journey to Cremini Town via Route 23. It was obvious that the redheaded annoyance simply wanted to rob Aoi of her trainer's attention. Why else would she prefer to walk when she had a perfectly-functioning all-knowing-one at the large, blue edifice they called the Gym?

That was where Absol came into the picture.

All Aoi had to do was to make sure that Absol's _sentiments_ about being locked away inside those nefarious devices, were channelled to her trainer, and Lo! Ash had released Absol, free to walk alongside Aoi and him all the way. From the way it seemed, Ash was awfully happy to keep the feline out, if it _encouraged sisterhood_ and _love_ between herself and the feline.

Turns out that the _annoyance_ was one of those ignorant ones, who held a lot of unshaken faith on the notoriety of the Absol species, and kept a significant distance from her, which by extension, meant keeping a significant distance from Ash as well. Then again, a little snarl here and there did wonders to an existing opinion. For once in her life, Absol didn't mind her negative publicity all that much.

They had crossed a majority of the distance during the day, and upon the coming of sunset, Ash had decided to set up tent and get some rest.

That was when Aoi had the masterful idea of letting her trainer know about her the _ghost_ would love to spend some time in the shadows of the night, rather than locked up inside her pokeball.

The annoyance hadn't even bothered to propose being in the same tent as him after that. A _grinning Gengar_ did that to you.

That was how she found herself resting on her trainer's lap, with the ghost and the void-using feline out for some nightly hunt. The black draconic creature was sleeping soundly outside by the tiny bonfire, along with rock-head member of his species. The situation allowed her trainer to have some time to talk to his prospective mate, giving Aoi access to his lap, and a good, well-coiled rest.

Aoi grinned to herself. Full marks to a job well done.

* * *

 **The next day.**

Cremini Town was, in a single phrase, a planned city. It had initially been a conglomerate of the settlements that resided close to the sea and the forest-clad mountains that lined the northern end of Cerulean. Of course, it didn't happen overnight, but as of now, Cremini Town was one of the main commercial zones that marked the region of Kanto, enough to make its presence known despite being between the juggernauts like Saffron and Cerulean on either end.

It had taken them around five hours to finally reach their destination. The Battle Tower.

Said 'tower' was actually a large skyscraper building, with either side lined with reflective glass panels acting as walls, allowing a view for the residents though maintaining complete opacity for the ones outside. Everything about the edifice _screamed 'expensive'_ to Ash and Misty, who passed through the outer gates, after having had their identification checked. Twice.

That was when the next surprise had come in.

" _Eleven hundred pokedollars?"_

Yes. That scary sum was what was required for a trainer to make use of the facilities of the Battle Tower. Mentally, Ash whispered several choice expletives for the old man he knew and respected as a Professor. Samuel Oak had conveniently forgotten to mention the hyper-expensive charges one had to pay to… in Cynthia's own words, _get one's ass kicked to hell and back._

The extremely-beautiful receptionist had calmly described the details of the Battle Tower to Ash, things he must absolutely understand and comply with, before registering for the use of the Tower's faculties. Thankfully enough, it had been quite similar to what Cynthia had mentioned to him the previous night.

The Battle Tower of Cremini Town had seven tiers. Each tier having its own set of challenges, and own set of rules. There were no second chances, and once a trainer was defeated, it meant the end of his pursuit, and he would have to return back to the ground floor. When challenging the Battle Tower, a trainer could make use of _eight pokémon._ Considering that the usual roster was limited to six, it meant that the trainer could have access to _two more_ of his team, if only for the day of the challenge. It was all mentioned in the legal statements that Ash had taken over an hour to go through and sign.

However, since having eight pokémon wasn't an issue for him, since his roster had a limit of twenty, he didn't really need to trouble himself with the minutia of it all. He had instead, spent several minutes alone, deciding over which pokémon he wanted to choose. It wasn't like he would be making multiple attempts in the future, so he needed his _best_ possible team for the venture.

After several minutes, he had finally made his mind, as he selected his team of eight—the team he would be able to use to battle his through the seven tiers.

Poliwhirl. Pidgeot. Rhydon. Metagross. Magnus. Crawdaunt. Absol. Gengar.

He had thought about it a lot. Aoi wasn't an option, and even if she was, it would only be because of her own self-learnt skills and not a result of being a part of Ash's team. The same was true with Alakazam as well. Of course, Shelgon was his starter, but his body anatomy restricted movement and he could not afford to have such a disadvantage in such a precarious position. Gyarados was powerful, but lacked enough battle experience and move sets, not like the others anyway. Of course, Trevenant and Dusclops were out of the question.

That left two more- Lairon and Zweilous. While both of them were powerful in their own regard, they were lacking in effective move set combinations and battle experience, the latter much more than the former.

A quick call to the Oak Ranch had solved the issue, bringing in Rhydon, Pidgeot and Poliwhirl to himself in less than a couple of minutes. Besides, it was good to see his mom once again.

Now only one thing remained. To register his team and start his conquest.

"Mr. Ketchum?" The receptionist replied. "Your reporting time is 2PM. Please make sure that you arrive on time."

"But… but why can't I just go in now?"

"The faculties of the Tower are being used by another trainer like yourself. Until he is defeated, the Battle Tower cannot be opened up to the next participant. You are third on the list for the day."

 _Right._ Ash decided. _Way too spoil the enthusiasm._ He checked his watch.

11:47 AM. More than two hours before that happened.

"Ash," Misty commented, "We can just look around the town, before it is time. There isn't much to do here anyway."

He didn't move.

"Ash?"

"I…" Ash tried to converge the myriad of thoughts into a definite conclusion. Sure, he had two hours before the event, but he didn't really want to spend the time wandering around aimlessly in a town he had travelled to, especially when the target of his visit was finally reached.

"There are some… things that I need to do." He turned towards Misty. "I need to talk to my team as well. None of them have ever faced anything remotely similar to this before. I need to let them know what it is they are going to face."

Misty stared at him for a moment. "Very well, then." She turned around and took a step away.

"Where are you going?" He asked softly.

"I think…" Misty began carefully. "I think that I should just continue with my travelling to my Academy, or better, hire the services of a psychic from the local Pokémon center to travel there."

"You want to…" Ash stopped midway, registering what Misty had just said. "You don't want to travel anymore?"

Misty looked severely conflicted. "It's not like I don't want to. It's more of... never mind. It will probably take you the rest of the day to finish your challenges at the Tower. And Lavender Town is within a day's distance. Either way, we would need to walk away along different paths."

Ash stared at her, as if trying to scrutinize her expressions. Finding nothing, he let out a sigh. "I cannot convince you to stay, can I?"

 _Yes, you can._ Misty _shook_ her head. "I don't think so. For what it is worth, our journey together ends here."

"…."

Misty gave him a sad smile. "Don't worry. I'll just teleport to the Academy. Besides, you will be coming to Saffron too, right?"

Ash thought about it. Saffron city was famous for its psychics. The gym leader, Sabrina, was an Elite Four member and a psychic master herself. To be honest, he had initially thought of challenging Sabrina for his seventh badge, right before trying for Viridian, which was probably at the apex if one were to consider the difficulty level. His plan was to meet with Elite Four Agatha for Dusclops's treatment, before flying off to Celadon to challenge Erica and her grass types.

Now though…

 _Shows how good plans stick when it comes to travelling._ He snorted, before glancing back towards Misty. "Yeah, I'll be there at Saffron, after I'm done with my business at Lavender Town."

He felt glad to see a bright smile reform on Misty's face.

"Great!" Misty nearly jumped with enthusiasm, as she quickly began to rummage through her handbag, before pulling out what seemed to be some kind of identification card. "Keep this," she handed it to him. "When you are there at Saffron, come find the Academy, and show this card at the gate. Someone should help you find me there."

"Awesome." Ash replied enthusiastically. "Will do that."

Misty blinked, as her eyes sparkled. "See you then, Ash. I'll wait for you over there." Saying so, she turned around.

"Yeah, but what about your-?" The rest of his words stayed back unsaid, as Ash stared at the departing figure of Misty Waterflower, racing out of the Battle Tower.

"… Never mind." He smiled. _I'll see you later then, Misty._

"Nine!" Aoi chirped beside him.

Ash sighed, turning to his companion. "Did you _really_ need to scare her off like that? She was a friend… you know."

"Nine?" _**I have no idea what you are talking about.**_

Ash rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't."

He looked back at the reception. _Two hours._ He had two hours to discuss a lot of things with his team. And after that, he would face something that would reveal his true value to himself.

And to the rest of the world.

His eyes sparkled. "Come on, Aoi. There is a lot we need to do."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the delay. My little brother damaged my laptop, and well, it took some time before it was back and functional. As it is, most of the chapter was written over the afternoon, with a little bit earlier last night. Hopefully, I did a good enough job with it.**

 **Now, time to answer the reviews.**

 **Seriously. I haven't the slightest idea how the ending of the previous chapter could be called a cliff-hanger.**

 **It's double my standard posting interval. I know. Sorry buddy.**

 **I can tell you that Ash is going to catch one more pokémon prior to the Pokémon league.**

 **Okay, that was all. Please put in a review if you liked the chapter. Thanks.**


	27. Conflict

" _The challenges we are going to face today, they are going to shape every single battle that we will be facing in the future. I cannot… I cannot possibly explain how important this battle is for us." Ash addressed the entire team that stood before him._

 _He could swear that the entire group was listening to him with undivided attention. Aoi, who was standing right beside him, simply looked on at the ongoing discussion from a spectator's perspective._

 _After getting Poliwhirl, Rhydon and Pidgeot sent to him from the Ranch, he had found himself a rather reclusive place in the plantations grown around the Battle Tower. Shelgon, Poliwhirl, Pidgeot, Rhydon, Metagross, Magnus, Crawdaunt—the first seven, along with Absol and Gengar—all nine pokémon stood in front of him. For obvious reasons, Trevenant and Dusclops were inside their respective balls, now kept inside his backpack so as to prevent any sudden mistakes._

" _We… we have been through a lot, over the last couple of weeks, learning from Cynthia's team, and then reshaping ourselves into something better. But… we have hardly reached our full potential. This… challenge, that we are going to face, will be instrumental in that."_

 _He took a deep breath. "The higher we win today, the tougher the battles will be in the future."_

 _Every single eye turned towards him, staring at him apprehensively._

" _I know… at first thought, it seems a little odd, but the tougher the battle, the more we grow. Don't we? We aren't going to become the best by defeating easier opponents. Are we?"_

 _A cacophony of denials answered his question._

" _This challenge we face today, it will show everyone our true worth, and the gyms will take us more seriously, and we get to battle against the real battlers, those who can wipe the floor with us. Those, are the teams we need to fight, and stand back up, no matter how many times we fall, because that is how we can grow stronger."_

 _He could really see the gears turning in his team's heads. Magnus was actively shaking with enthusiasm._

" _That brings us to the other point. I can… only take eight pokémon with me forward for this, and I need the most versatile team out there."_

 _Silence. The team of nine that stood there, automatically understood that one of them wouldn't be able to make it, as they glanced at each other apprehensively._

 _He stood up, his head downcast, "Shelgon… you won't really be making the team this time."_

 _Shelgon did not move. Or make a sound. At all._

" _Shelgon?" Ash repeated._

 _No sound. The rock-head pokémon simply continued to stare at his trainer._

 _Seconds passed by, as pokémon and trainer just stared at each other._

 _Then, the rock-head pokémon's countenance twitched, as he took a step forward, his expression defiant, as draconic energy concentrated inside his maw, before he released it out into the air above him, as the orange energy dispersed into several blobs, that fell down onto the ground, like meteors, filled with the highly destructive draconic energy within._

 _The statement was clearly made, and very well received._

" _I am not weak."_

 _Ash fell to his knees, though his eyes never left his starter. "You must really hate me now, don't you?"_

 _Shelgon didn't make a sound, though the slight twitch proved that he was a little surprised by the sudden statement._

" _I wouldn't blame you if I were you." Ash muttered. "You are my starter. You were the one who fought Poliwag back then, and Pidgeotto, when she was a tiny little thing, and then Metang. And now… all of them got chosen over you."_

 _Still no reaction._

" _There is no excuse on my end, buddy." Ash continued, his voice having a strange, otherworldly affliction to it. "I am being selfish here. I need the most versatile team for this challenge, and your… anatomy, restricts your movement a lot, and you know it."_

 _Shelgon grunted defiantly, stomping his tiny feet onto the ground._

 _Ash wasn't done though. "It is not a slight to you, my friend. The battles in the future, they wouldn't have such… complications on us, and at that time, you could battle as much as you like. But this time… I need you to step aside." He paused. "Can you do that?"_

 _Shelgon took a step forward._

" _Shelgon?"_

 _He didn't answer, just kept taking slow steps forward, never once leaving his constant stare at Ash._

" _Shelgon, I-"_

 _Shelgon paid no heed. He just continued to walk ahead, his expressions constant, and before Ash knew it, he was right there near his abdomen, before he finally let out a grunt, raising his head. For one second, Ash felt that Shelgon was going to head-butt him out of anger, and even mentally prepared himself for it, but instead, the rock-head pokémon's reaction was something… worse._

 _The hard-as-steel armoured head hit against the release-button of the pokeball, which opened up, throwing out a beam of red light, as Shelgon dematerialized, having gotten sucked into the pokeball._

 _The message was clear. Ash wanted him to step aside. Shelgon stepped aside. End of statement._

 _Ash couldn't do anything but stare. Blankly._

* * *

He stood outside the main lobby, his eyes glassy and without the slightest trace of emotion in them. Beside him, stood a woman of thirty, wearing impeccable white robes as was custom at the Tower. He hardly paid any mind to the list of things the woman was trying to drill into him over and over again, in hope that he would not commit any of the silly flaws while making use of the facilities of the tower.

"Mr. Ketchum, are you listening?"

Ash let out a sigh, as he twisted his neck towards her. "Yes?"

"Do you have any questions?"

 _Yes. Do you ever shut up? "_ … No. everything's clear."

It was true. There were only three main rules that he needed to keep in mind. The first—he would have to remember the regulations of the battle, which were different for each level—and follow them to the tee. Any transgressions would immediately cess his progress.

Rule number two—He could keep going upward as long as he had at least one of his eight pokémon left. Of course, he could only go ahead should he manage to win the challenge of the given floor first. Considering that there were no second chances, it meant that losing a single battle meant instant cessation of his progress.

Rule number three—there were no gaps between the battles. While the battles could take as long as they liked, the only time interval between one challenge and the next was the time it took to reach there, which was less than half a minute.

"At the completion of the event, you will be made aware of the conclusions drawn. Be advised that the Indigo League will be getting a copy of the report, as well as a visual recording of the battle. After all, the results might change your trainer status on the League database."

Ash nodded his head. Half of him was still reeling over Shelgon's behaviour, though truth be told, he should have seen it coming. Belittling a dragon's pride wasn't something one did on the best of days, and Shelgon was his bloody starter. Not for the first time, Ash felt that he had been unable to fulfil his promises made to his team.

That said, there was something else bugging him as well. Not wanting to take any chances, he twisted his neck, turning to the woman. "On what basis are the conclusions drawn?"

"So you were listening…" The woman seemed mildly impressed. "Your decision making skills, your ability to improvise, your adaptability, and your pokémon's natural strength. Those are the main parameters, aside from your overall performance of course."

"My pokémon's natural strength?"

"Of course," The woman frowned as if Ash had proved himself to be an absolute simpleton by asserting that query. "You should know that even a well-trained Seadra have a high probability of failing before the might of an untrained Gyarados. Protocol indicates that the higher the pokémon's natural strength, the more strict will be its valuation. It is an integral component to our program and helps us differentiate a truly versatile trainer from someone that simply uses his naturally powerful team to brute force his way into the higher echelons of the Tower."

In other words, the difference between the Ash Ketchum he had been prior to the attack on the Anne, and the Ash Ketchum he was trying to become.

"I understand. I have no more questions."

"Good. " The woman pursed her lips as she pressed her palm against the security check in front of them, as a steel door opened in front of Ash, who walked past it, finding himself in a somewhat spacious metallic contraption.

 _An elevator…._ He mused. Before the thought had escaped his mind, the door behind him shut, as the contraption shot upwards, coming to a halt even before Ash had been able to register the entire sequence.

With a loud ding, the wall in front of him now cracked open, allowing him to step outside.

* * *

The entire area looked like a humongous, white-washed hall room. In the dead center of it, was an extravagant battleground with large rock boulders cluttered all over the battle arena. On the other side, he could see a man standing, dressed in white, with long, brown hair and a look that estimated him to be closer to forty.

"Ash Ketchum, "The man had a throaty voice. "Welcome to Tier 1. Let me tell you the rules. This will be a 2 on 2 battle. No substitutions. Once sent in, a pokémon cannot be recalled until it faints. If you do, that pokémon will be declared forfeit either way, rendering it illegible for any future battles during the entire event. Is that clear?"

 _So the first tier will probably end with one or two pokémon from my team fainting either way, reducing it to six. I can almost understand why only the Elite Four manage to win the damned thing._

"Clear, sir."

"My name is Arnold, not sir. Then we shall begin." The man lifted our first pokeball. "Go, Electabuzz."

 _Interesting. An electric type on a rock ground. The obvious choice would be to throw in Rhydon, but what if his next pokémon is a water type? It will throw Rhydon out of the loop for good, since I cannot switch pokémon. Sneaky._

 _All right. Try something like this._ Ash made his choice. "Go, Gengar."

Waves of otherworldly energy pervaded the rocky ground as the Shadow pokémon materialized in front of Electabuzz.

"A ghost type. Didn't see that one coming." The man snorted.

Ash wasn't sure if the man was simply laughing in general at his seemingly unexpected choice, or over the fact that Ash had avoided making a potential misstep.

"Electabuzz, use thunderbolt on Gengar."

"Use double team and use confuse ray on Electabuzz."

The Gengar grinned as she dissolved into several illusory forms of herself, totally hindering the use of the thunderbolt, as she sent a powerful confuse ray on Electabuzz, her eyes glowing as the electric type was being bombarded with nightmares.

"Eh, Electabuzz, hit yourself with thunder. Stop its action. "

"Not so fast," Ash countered. "Gengar, use hypnosis and follow it up with dream eater."

Dream Eater. A rather sophisticated psychic move that was in essence, the perfect counter to the psychic move Rest. In effect, it soaked our power from a sleeping opponent, thus effectively countering Rest.

The Electabuzz was screaming its lungs out, as it was haunted by terrible nightmares, as the hypnosis, coupled with dream eater, compounded the effect that Confuse ray was having on its person.

The man stared at his pokémon for a moment, before turning to Ash. "Well, what are you waiting for? Render it unable for battle so that i can choose the next pokémon."

For a moment, Ash had the inclination to follow the request, but he stopped his impulses. "Why bother expending energy to push him out, when Gengar can just wait and grab energy with Electabuzz present?"

"Aren't you a meanie?" The man, Arnold deadpanned. "I forfeit Electabuzz." With that statement, he lifted a pokeball, sucking the electric type inside. "My next pokémon won't be so easy to overpower." He plucked out his next choice. "Go, Cacturne."

The pokémon that was released seemed like a cactus plant made into a makeshift scarecrow.

"Cacturne, use feint attack."

"Disperse."

As soon as he laid down the command, Gengar instantly turned incorporeal into purple fumes, turning Cacturne's attack useless.

"Get away and use Perish song."

"You edgy trickster", Arnold laughed, "It seems I need to up my game now. Cacturne use Destiny Bond."

"Double team, and follow up with Dark pulse."

The concentrated dark spheres hit Cacturne from all sides, rendering him quite tired. Ash could see Cacturne slowly getting sluggish. Just two more moves and Cacturne would be out of the game. He needed to stay impassive and keep away from Cacturne now."

Arnold laughed. It was over now. "Get close to Gengar, and use Sunny day."

To his surprise, the walls of the room all around him seemed to _alter_ their very texture, turning nigh transparent, allowing the harsh sunlight outside to penetrate their way into the battle-ground. After a couple of seconds, it was almost like they were battling under clear skies with a harsh, midday sun overhead.

Arnold smirked. "This building is designed to provide the most efficient environment, which includes changing the nature. Moves that have the ability to affect the weather can be used to full-effect, just as easily as if one is battling outside in the open."

Ash gritted his teeth. Sunny day powered up fire-type moves, and it was quite possible that Cacturne knew Flamethrower. However, that wasn't the problem. The real issue was that the harsh. Sunlight was hurting Gengar, no thanks to his ghost-typing. As powerful as Gengar was, he hadn't trained her to bear the harshness of sunlight during training.

Arnold grinned. "Use Giga Impact."

"No", Ash yelled, "Gengar, disperse."

Gengar did disperse, but before she could do it successfully, the raw power of Giga Impact, which was in effect, the physical counterpart of Hyper Beam, hit her straight in the face, literally blasting her into fumes. Of course, after a couple of moments, the fumes reformed, but it was clear that Gengar was quite tired and affected from the outcome.

"Cacturne is unable to battle." Arnold declared in a monotone. "You have successfully completed the challenge. Please return to the elevator. It will take you to the next tier."

"Gengar, are you okay?" Ash asked, concerned.

Gengar let out a wide grin, though it was clear that she was exhausted and needed rest. And yet, Ash knew that this was hardly going to be her last before the event was over. "Take some rest. We might need to battle again."

"Gen-gar!"

* * *

If not for the fact that he had actually felt the elevator move upwards, Ash could have sworn that he had entered the first tier by mistake. Only, instead of a single person standing there, there were two people, and it seemed, like the battleground was now much larger, and wider in size. Of course, once again, the opponents in front of him were clad in white—the first being a red-haired guy that looked around his late twenties, and a blonde woman who looked around his age.

"Ash Ketchum," the red-haired man welcomed him. "My name's Green, and this is my partner Cassidy. Welcome to the second tier of the Battle Tower."

"… Thanks." Ash muttered, wondering what it was about the formality all around.

"The second tier will be a combination of two 2 on 2 battles. The first will be between my own team and yours. The second will be the same, only between yourself and Cassidy."

The woman gave him a casual smile. "The rules are quite simple. You have to use a different pokémon for every battle. No substitutions. Four pokémon for four matches. Should you be able to win three out of four, you can proceed to the next tier. Also, you cannot use any pokémon already used in Tier 1. Any questions?"

Translation. By the end of the tier, Ash would have five pokémon, all of which would have fought, and would be extremely tired, and that was the optimistic scenario.

 _And this is just the second tier._ Ash scowled inwardly.

"You will be facing me first." Green returned what Ash thought was a rudimentary attempt at trying to impart false comfort. "Go, Feraligatr."

The seven-foot tall, fully-evolved form of the Johto starter Totodile appeared in front of Ash. The creature had a draconic look, though from what Ash knew of it, its abilities were centered on physical attacks and sheer strength.

"Alright," Ash made his mind. He knew just what to use against this water-type beast. "Go, Magnus."

If Green or Cassidy were surprised at the odd variant of the Charmeleon species in front of them, their faces didn't register it at all.

"Magnus, the same rule as with the big guy." Ash tried to go as elusive as possible. The Tower was too good at cornering him, without him intentionally giving out more information about himself. "Same moves, only this one uses water."

Magnus let out a grunt, the air around his claws already drenched in fumes of draconic energy, as his eyes began to glow. Almost instantly, the walls around the room turned transparent, as harsh sunlight pervaded into the entire battle-chamber.

Sunny Day was active.

Ash had a ghost of a smile on his face. It was time to see just how much the intense training back on Sulphur Island had gotten his fellow teammate. Back on that mysterious island, none of his abilities could be used efficiently, and Ash didn't really get a chance to use him against one of Gary's own. This setting however, was more of an ideal one.

He crossed his elbows, something that incited a reaction from his opponent.

Green decided to cut the theatrics and go ahead with the first strike. "Feraligatr, time to test the waters. Use Hydro pump."

The big-jaw pokémon opened his maw to shoot out an enormous torrent of water towards Magnus, who almost contradictorily, didn't bother to dodge the attack. Instead, he crossed his large claws, each dripping with draconic energy in front of his face as a makeshift barrier, taking the entire attack head-on.

Green seemed to be slightly confused at the lack of reaction from Magnus. "Feraligatr, double the power."

Feraligatr obeyed as he threw in the full force of hydro pump, regarded as one of the strongest water-type attacks, on what he assumed was a fire-type. Interestingly enough, Magnus seemed to be dealing with it better than the original attempt, much to Green's confusion.

Ash smirked. As a Charmander, his low _inner-flame_ had seemed like a rather significant weakness on Magnus. However, on evolution, when his typing turned to _dragon,_ the fact made much more sense. It was true that his fire-based attacks would be lesser in terms of power and effectiveness compared to the normal specimens of his kin, but at the same time, Magnus didn't share a normal Charmeleon's weakness to water. After all, Magnus wasn't a fire-type.

He was a _dragon._

The sudden brightness in Magnus's tail flame gave Ash an indication that his opponent was about to get a taste of Magnus's abilities as well.

It was time to test the power of the TM he had bought from the Cerulean Pokemart.

"Use Solar Beam!"

Magnus lifted his maw and threw up the full force of a solar beam, one that he had been slowly manifesting within his maw, the rate having tripled because of sunny day. Any other day, Ash would have used the Sunny Day technique to empower his fire-based moves, which he would then use with other speed-inducing move sets in union. However, Feraligatr was a water-type, and thus, grass-type attack would have a greater effect on it than a dragon pulse to the face.

The solar beam slammed head-on with Feraligatr, sweeping the big-jaw pokémon off his feet, literally throwing him away by several feet, as he fell to the ground.

"Feraligatr, get up, and use agility." Green yelled.

Feraligatr obeyed instantly. The fact that it was able to shrug off the effects of the solar beam so quickly was a testament to his own experience and power, and to some extent, about just how much Magnus needed to harvest the raw power of the solar beam technique. By the next three seconds, Feraligatr was a little more than a bluish blur in the air, shooting towards Magnus at incredible speeds.

"Jump."

The moment Feraligatr had come within a few inches close to Magnus, the dragon leapt into the air, completely missing the powerful claw attack, as he landed behind Feraligatr's back, throwing a half-powered dragon pulse on the water-type's back. Though, considering the armoured hide Feraligatr boasted, the attack wouldn't have done a lot save some minor bruising at best.

"Magnus, stick to physical attacks." Ash muttered, knowing very well that the dragon's keen sense of hearing would be able to hear him perfectly fine.

With another roar, and his claws shining with draconic energy, Magnus charged ahead.

"Feraligatr, use aqua jet."

The two overly powerful creatures rushed towards each other, with Feraligatr, using aqua jet to speed himself up, and Magnus relying on his own ability. It was only until they were too close when Ash muttered his next command.

"Leap and use dual chop!"

Magnus pushed himself off the ground, as Feraligatr passed underneath him, as Magnus sank down his blade-like protrusions that shot out of his elbow towards Feraligatr's back, slicing into his thick hide. Unable to control his speed under the influence of Aqua Jet, the water-type slammed all the way towards the other end of the battle-stadium, hitting face-first against the boulders, fainting almost instantly.

Magnus let out a roar.

"Feraligatr is unable to battle." Cassidy declared. "Please choose your next pokémon."

Ash smiled as he glanced towards Magnus. Unlike what he feared, the battle hadn't tired Magnus, who looked all hyped up. Irrespective of that, Magnus had wasted some energy fighting Feraligatr, and thus, it was essential to get him some time to relax before the next time he would need to battle again.

"Nicely done, Ash." Green smiled. "That Charmeleon of yours is truly something, though not a normal one, I think." The strange smile on the man's face made Ash feel at edge. As if he needed more reasons to be irritated with, apart from his… standing issue with Shelgon.

"Magnus, great work. Take some rest for now." He lifted the pokeball, sucking Magnus inside. It was time for the next battle.

Having already returned Feraligatr, Green chose his next pokémon. "All right. Go, Typhlosion."

Ash almost rolled his eyes. What was with this guy and Johto starters? He silently mused if the guy was a trainer from Johto himself.

 _First a water-type, and now a fire-type. This guy surely knows to choose versatile ranges of pokémon for battle._ Ash mentally scowled, as he released his next battler. "Go, Crawdaunt."

The rogue crustacean stood on his hind legs, giving off an intimidating aura at the overgrown rat with a bunch of flames on its back, whom he had been called to battle. However, Ash's words to the team had been clear.

 _Rule number one. You win the battle. Whatever you need to do to get that, you do it. Rule number two. Get in. Strike hard. Get out. Save your power for future battles. You will need it. Rule number three. When in doubt, fucking cheat!_

Crawdaunt raised his pincers. He needed this victory and fainting wasn't an option.

"Typhlosion, use flame charge."

A head-on collision then. Ash decided. While he understood that type-advantage meant jackshit when it came to professional battlers, he wouldn't hesitate from taking an advantage when it came gift-wrapped to him. "Use Aqua jet."

Crawdaunt summoned a miniature tornado of water around his person, as he shot towards the incoming barrage with tremendous speed. Apparently, there was a psychic component to Aqua jet that allowed the user to incorporate agility into it.

"Typhlosion, use lava plume when on top." Green commanded, and the moment the two were just inches apart, Typhlosion's entire body became inundated with light, as hot, scorching flames shot out of it, affecting Crawdaunt despite the aqueous-barrier that Aqua jet provided him with.

"Twin pulse."

The combination of lava plume and the twin water pulses erupting out of Crawdaunt's pincers created a massive explosion, pushing either pokémon towards opposite sides, slamming into the ground. It was only due to the cushion provided by the Aqua jet that prevented further bruising on Crawdaunt's part.

Typhlosion on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.

"Aqua punch." Ash called out, utilizing the same attack that he had used against Gary's Sableye, as Crawdaunt enveloped himself in another shell of water enclosing around him, as he flew towards the Typhlosion.

"Use lava plume."

"Endure it and use double hammer."

It was a shocking sight, as Crawdaunt shot through the incoming wall of flames, his protection being the water enveloping him and his own shell, as he slammed his pincers into Typhlosion, one on his face and the other on his chest.

"Finish with Guillotine."

"Typhlosion, use burn up."

"Crawdaunt, get out of there." Ash yelled, but it was too late. Typhlosion was inundated with white flames which spread outwards, and with Crawdaunt being in direct contact with his neck, the damage it dealt was extremely severe scarring and scorching the crustacean before it managed to get out, as the massive fiery explosion threw it backwards.

"Typhlosion is unable to battle." Cassidy stated. "Crawdaunt is the winner."

Ash on the other hand, raged in silence. It was a cruel and trick move, one employed to render Crawdaunt incapable of battle. From the looks of it, the rogue crustacean would be knocked down by another attack. For all intents and purposes, Crawdaunt was out of the game.

And it was all because of his own lack of ability. Had Ash been able to consider the potential of a trap, he could have salvaged the situation.

His fists clenched tightly.

Cassidy raised a pokeball at his face. "Choose your next pokémon."

An angry scowl marred Ash's face. "Go get them, Rhydon."

* * *

 **Meanwhile in Pallet Town.**

Samuel Oak stared blankly at the notification he had received from the Cremini Town Battle Tower. As Ash's official sponsor, he was always sent notifications whenever Ash entered through legal contracts and the like—the contract he made with Bill Montgomery for one, though that one was mostly open-ended with a lot of room to breathe.

 _I can only hope that you will get through this, without turning into a bitter and angry young man, Ash. Please forgive me._

"Young Ash registered at the Battle Tower then, it seems."

Samuel pinched his nose, as the region between his eyebrows furrowed in irritation, realizing the voice, and the company he was in. Of course, he should have seen this coming.

"I didn't realize that you were so invested that you'd just walk into Pallet Town, Mr. Stone?"

Derrick laughed. "Nothing like that. Just decided to accompany my little assistant to her home. It was a good excuse to be in the grand company of the revered Samuel Oak, and well, a chance to walk through Pokemopolis."

"Pokemopolis is out of bounds for Devon Corp, Mr. Stone." Samuel snapped, as he turned around. "Your wordplays won't have an effect on me."

Derrick just arched an eyebrow. "I can only wonder what I have done to incur the wrath of the affable Professor Oak."

"Your unusual interests in my protégé would be one of them, Mr. Stone."

"Well, Daisy is a rather bright and talented student, a keen mind for deductions and analysis, that one. Besides-"

"I'm _not_ talking about my grand-daughter. I am talking about Ash."

Derrick's forehead furrowed. "I was under the opinion that your own grand-children would be your protégé."

Samuel stared squarely at Derrick in the face. "I think both of us know what I'm talking about. I have talked with Lance _and_ Montgomery. I think I realize a pattern when I see one. Tell me _Derrick_ , what makes you so interested in Ash Ketchum, so much that you don't find yourself _above tweaking_ the situation, going so far as to involve Silph Co. and the Elite Four?"

Derrick stayed silent.

Samuel Oak however, was far from finished. "You have my gratitude for bringing Ash face-to-face with a prospective pseudo-legendary lair like the Beldum Colony. I will not deny you this. However, unlike Ash, I do have the experience of being betrayed enough times to know when other games are being played in my presence, and I will not blindly allow him to be subject to them."

Derrick had a little smile playing on his lips. "To have earned such fierce loyalty from the revered Professor Oak. One wonders Ash is _capable of doing,_ if Samuel Oak _believes him_ to be this much… well… it makes me wonder just how much the great Oak was… _influenced_ back then."

Samuel clenched his fists. He knew _exactly_ what the man was talking about, and just how… precipitous his words were. On a side point, he was also somewhat frustrated that his views and objections were simply evaded with an indirect answer. As far as Derrick's views towards Ash were concerned, it had contained nothing but pride and approval, as if he was praising his own child or a beloved younger sibling. He didn't know what to make of it.

Derrick gave him a soft smile. "I'm interested in Ash's growth, to the point of being personally invested in it. It is more than what I had initially anticipated it to be, but that is neither here nor there." He paused, with an almost wistful expression. "It is also true that I am somewhat… curious about how the entire situation regarding Ash and the Legendaries, especially this… Mewtwo will play out. The Fates have always been whimsical to a degree, at least in the short term, but they are completely… flighty as far as our mutual interest is concerned."

"I do not believe in your theories of fate and pseudo-legends, Derrick Stone." Samuel replied succinctly.

"Of course not. You only believe the myths that you have personally been a part of."

Samuel opened his mouth, and then closed it.

"Ash continues to grow on his own. My own interference has only served to… augment his growth in certain aspects, and personally, I was rather surprised when you suggested him to go to Lavender Town. The boy has in him, the makings of an excellent _ghost-master_ , though I am… not quite sure if he will turn out that way. The fates are rather whimsical like that."

"I'm not as surprised as I should, but answer me this." Oak stressed. "What are your future motives for Ash? I doubt it is as simple as having a prospective Elite under your influence."

"Elite? Try Champion. You and I both know that he walks the path of a Champion. Though… whether he actualizes that possibility or not, is a completely different ball game. No, my interests in him lies mainly in the esoteric fields, something, I am sure you will forgive me if I don't feel necessary to inform you."

"Of course." Samuel forced out. "Does Bill know that?"

"Bill Montgomery is a man of many talents. To be satisfied with his own limits of curiosity is one of them." Derrick paused. "Something… that Daisy shares with him."

For the second time in his life, Samuel Oak had the nasty feeling that he had bitten off more than his ability to chew.

* * *

 **Back at the Battle Tower.**

Rhydon _screamed._

Ash couldn't believe his eyes, as one of his strongest battlers—Rhydon, now lay fallen on the ground, face-first, _screaming_ in agony, doing his best not to move his upper extremities. Beneath him, was a black humanoid pokémon Cassidy had called 'Bisharp', which lay unmoving. Somewhere close to the shoulder blade, two long steel protrusions lay raised, impaled through Rhydon's dense armour and tissue.

Rhydon had ended the battle in a powerful body slam, and at the same time, took in Bisharp's counter attack, in which Bisharp had impaled the twin blades _through_ the rock-type's chest, impaling through the delicate tissue behind the rock-hard armour that protected Rhydon's body.

Ash was pale with horror, as he raised the pokeball shakily, returning his friend back to his pokeball, before he turned to Green. "Rhydon needs emergency treatment. Please tell me there is something you can do to treat him?"

"If you do that, it means that you won't be able to use him in the further challenges." Cassidy pointed out in a monotone, almost like she was talking about the weather, and not about a heavily injured pokémon.

"Do I look like I fucking care?" Ash yelled back. "Rhydon needs treatment."

Green raised a hand in a calming gesture. "Do not worry. Our doctors will take care of him. You can hand over his pokeball to me. I will take care of it."

Ash slowly, hesitantly, extended his hand towards Green, the pokeball almost touching Green's palm. His entire body was shaking at the prospect of his friend suffering a grievous injury, or worse. Then he stopped.

"Rhydon will be okay, right?" He asked, his voice strained and hard.

Green gave him a melancholic smile. "Don't worry. He will be all right."

Ash felt a part of him… constrict, as he left the pokeball in Green's palm, watching the man walk away towards a door on the right end. Accidents were a part of training and battles, but seeing Rhydon lying there, _like that,_ had shocked him beyond comprehension. He couldn't even keep his hands steady.

 _What am I… am I doing? This place. This… this battle tower… I am not supposed to be here right now. It is for advanced trainers and I… I allowed this to happen. Because of my greed, Shelgon… because of my foolishness, now Rhydon is…_

 _He is…_

"Ash Ketchum?"

The words meant nothing to the boy whose mind was already trapped in a vicious circle of incrementing self-doubt. The words that Cynthia had said to him, the reaction that his starter, his friend Shelgon had given him… the pains that Rhydon might have gone through… the explosion Crawdaunt had suffered from…

All of that because of him and his stupid incessant need to prove himself.

 _Why are you doing this? Whom do you want to prove to, and why does it matter?_

"Ash Ketchum." This time the voice was more stern and demanding.

"Ye—yes?" He somehow composed himself, as he shook himself out of his inner trauma.

"Are you able to continue battling?" Cassidy asked, her voice casual and free of emotion. Clearly, she didn't have any qualms over the fact that her Bisharp might have mortally wounded the Rhydon.

A part of Ash felt unbridled anger seeping through his very veins, as her callous words struck a raw nerve. How dare she imply that… that…?

He lifted his head. "I can battle."

Cassidy curled her lips. "Very well. Choose your next pokémon."

"But why? I have my three victories. Send me to the next tier." Ash retorted.

Cassidy arched an eyebrow. "Three victories, yes. But I never mentioned that getting three wins would be enough to skip the fourth match."

His fists clenched, Ash decided his next choice. If he were to quit right now, Rhydon's suffering, Crawdaunt's injury, Magnus and Gengar's victories… they would mean nothing.

 _Nothing._

All of that because Ash Ketchum, their trainer, could not digest the fact that _he_ could also _lose, lose horribly,_ and had decided to run away.

No. He would be damned before he let that happen.

His fists tightened. He would show this woman what it meant to injure someone of his team.

I'll battle."

Cassidy's lips twisted. "You are up, Talonflame!"

Ash watched the hawk-like bird, one that Cassidy call a _Talonflame,_ rise up into the air. At first sight, she seemed like any other ordinary avian from some distant region, presumably from the same place she had gotten that Bisharp from. He couldn't care less. However, on closer look, he could feel the temperature rising up in the room, and it could only point him towards a single conclusion.

He was dealing with a fire-type.

 _A bird, with a fire-typing. I know just what to send in return._

His fingers latched themselves to his next pokeball, as he plucked it out, and held it high in the air. "I choose you… Pidgeot!"

And then everything changed.

* * *

Cassidy smirked as she observed _Ash Ketchum_ ready to fall apart. It was something she saw quite regularly. Between Green and her, the job was to make sure that most trainers trying their skill against the tower _smash_ their confidences down to the ground. The first tier was more of a warm-up for the challenges, through which the Tower staff analysed the trainer's skill level at battling, along with his decision-making skills, and importantly, whether said trainer was one to have overwhelming faith on type-advantage or not.

Ash Ketchum had passed that test.

That black Charmeleon had been a nasty surprise, and if Cassidy were truthful to herself, without that sudden self-sacrificial move at the end, even Ketchum's Crawdaunt would have scored a win with nothing but superficial injuries.

That was where she had come in.

Her steel-type from Kalos, had literally shattered his hopes on Rhydon, who by the looks of it, was easily the kid's top pokémon, if not one of the most powerful ones on his team. Bisharp were, by nature, extremely ruthless and pragmatic, a perfect follower of the 'ends justified the means' philosophy. The Rhydon knowing a flamethrower, had been a rather surprising thing for her, and if she were honest with herself, a young kid like Ketchum defeating her Bisharp was rather surprising. Either way, the rules clearly stated that the contender needed three wins to move to the next round, and considering Ketchum's present situation, he was all but ready to lose the next round.

Then again, it wasn't like some newbie would be able to move past the Tier 2 just because he had the money to pay for the facilities.

She saw Ketchum's fingers clench tightly. Whatever it was, the battle would have end now. Considering his battle against her Bisharp, the result of the oncoming battle was pretty much damning.

Her lips twisted into a menacing grin. "You are up, Talonflame!"

Talonflame was a large, hawk-like bird with a dual fire/flying typing, and was one of her strongest fighters. Between her powerful aerial moves, and her affinity with powerful fire-attacks, she was literally one of the most powerful aerial battlers out there. For most cases, her Bisharp took care of most trainers for good before she even had to bring out Talonflame. She silently wondered what this… _Ash Ketchum_ would bring out to face the aerial fire-demon of Kalos.

Ketchum raised a pokeball in the air, not going through his previous dramatic 'throwing the pokeball on the ground' antics. Clearly, it was a sign that his psyche had been afflicted with a deep wound. Cassidy had never really expected to have to eat her own words so soon as uttering them aloud.

"I choose you… Pidgeot!"

* * *

 _What is that thing?_ Cassidy couldn't help but marvel at the sheer size of the avian that Ketchum called a _Pidgeot._ For once, the beast was almost double the sheer size of a standard Pidgeot, and for another, Pidgeot didn't have the beautiful plumage and the innate royal look that this one so commanded so easily. This… this ethereal creature simply stood on the ground, staring at her and Talonflame like they were mere insects, insignificant in the scheme of things.

 _First that strange Charmeleon and now this….? Who the hell is this kid?_

"Talonflame, use flame charge." She began, not wanting to give this strange kid and his odd pokémon team a chance to catch her by surprise. Talonflame raised his wings with a harsh screech, as he enveloped himself with flames, charging towards Pidgeot who had taken to the air.

"Her pokémon hurt Rhydon." Ash yelled angrily. "Show her why no one tries to harm one of us."

Pidgeot screeched angrily, as she soared up high into the air, her sharp eyes following the fiery bird racing towards her. In less than a few seconds, Talonflame was right in front of her, as he slammed in, only to find empty space.

"Talon?"

"Air slash." Ash commanded, as both Cassidy and Talonflame watched in shock as Pidgeot suddenly appeared on the other side of the field, her wings glowing powerfully as she sent several blades of energy through the air at Talonflame.

"Dodge and use Flamethrower."

"Intercept." Ash commanded, as Pidgeot raised a powerful gust attack enough to stop the Flamethrower, sending it back towards Talonflame. "Reverse."

It was something he had developed for Pidgeot back on Sulphur Island. Along with the powerful gust attack, Pidgeot's wings began to glow silver as she threw powerful slashes of energy towards Talonflame. The defense-offense combo was something particularly useful against both aerial and stationary combatants.

"Talonflame, dodge it and return with brave bird."

"Steel wing. Prepare for it."

Pidgeot let out a screech of acknowledgement, letting her trainer know that she understood his command.

At first sight, it seemed like a flawed plan. While steel wing was a powerful move, it stood nowhere in front of a devastating attack like Brave bird. Cassidy smirked as the two aerial combatants shot closer and closer to each other.

"Now, double team."

Instantly, several dozen illusory forms of Pidgeot appeared all over the place.

Cassidy yelled. "Attack them with Brave bird."

 _Checkmate._ Ash thought in his mind. While brave bird was a powerful attack whose power seemed to grow, the longer it was maintained, there was a negative aspect of it as well. While the power increase was significant, it reduced the user's ability to deviate from his path, exchanging manoeuvrability for raw power, a version of _Outrage_ for flying types.

Talonflame was now enveloped in _Brave bird_ , and now she was heading for a head-on collision with Pidgeot, consequences be damned.

"Hyper beam." Ash commanded with a tone of finality in his voice, as Pidgeot unleashed the full force of her hyper beam straight on Talonflame, detonating with the force of a small bomb.

The only thing visible was a falling Talonflame, scorched, and wounded, pummelling towards the ground. Pidgeot on the other hand, was still in her position, her wings beating gently, just enough to maintain her altitude.

And the outcome was clear.

Talonflame is unable to battle." Ash replied in a strange voice. "I won 4 matches out of 4. Is that good enough for me to move to the next tier?"

* * *

Apparently, the tower had a strange sense of humour and architecture, because once again, there was practically no difference between the previous tier and the third one. Only this time, there was a single woman present on the opposite side, and the battleground was a grass-type.

"Ash Ketchum," The woman had an ethereal voice, complimenting her light, silvery hair. "Congratulations on succeeding past Tier 2. I'm Janet and your only opponent for this tier." She indicated at the large battleground, only instead of rock, it was a grass type one. "This will be a 3-on-3 battle. Rules are thus. You may only use pokémon that you used in the previous two tiers. Substitutions are allowed. The battle will end when either side has lost all 3 pokémon. Any questions?"

Ash shook his head. From what he understood, he would have to fight the battle with Magnus, Gengar and Pidgeot. Rhydon was off-limits and Crawdaunt wasn't an option either, unless he were facing a ludicrously underpowered opponent, which was unlikely to be the case.

"You might have won past the previous two tiers. However, this is where you stop."

"Don't be so sure of that." Ash retorted coldly. "I have three pokémon, just like you." The more cynical part of his mind happily pointed out that out of said three, one had already fought over two battles, and had had an intense exposure to Sunny day. The other two had faced and won a single battle each. On the contrary, Janet's pokémon were completely rested and ready to give their all.

"Fine. Let us begin." Janet began. "Come out, Charizard."

Ash wasn't sure whether to feel exhilarated or angry. He lifted up the pokeball and released Magnus, who stared at his own fully evolved form. Or at least, what would have been his evolved form if he were a normal Charmeleon.

The Charizard in question was roughly a foot taller than Magnus. It spread its wings wide to try intimidate Magnus, who scoffed at the attempt.

 _If anything, this battle will cement a final level of confidence in Magnus's mind._

"Charizard, use Flamethrower."

"Dragon breath."

The two ranged attacks intercepted each other, exploding midway.

"Use agility and metal claw."

Ash smirked. Agility. A psychic-based technique that temporarily increased the speed of the user. He couldn't care about the Charizard using such a technique on Magnus. Magnus didn't know agility because he didn't _need_ it.

"Use rush."

Enveloped in a mist of draconic energy, something that temporarily raised his attack and defense stats, Magnus shot towards Charizard, using his innate speed to maximum effect.

"Envelop yourself with flame charge, Charizard."

Ash winced. Agility combined with metal claw made for a devastating combination. To be able to put in something like Flame Charge with it, made it an extremely lethal combination, even for fire-types. Thankfully, the dragon rush would be able to counteract some of the passive damage from flame charge. However….

"Magnus, stop on your tracks and take the hit."

"What?" Janet replied, completely shocked by his command, as Charizard slashed against Magnus with his powerful claws, bruising the dragon-type. She could hear Magnus hiss in pain as the sharp claws dug under his hide.

"Now use thunder punch. Aim for the wings."

While having wings gained Charizard the ability of sustained flight, it also increased the drag on him, reducing the speed that agility provided him. Another negative consequence was that the wings provided Magnus a greater surface area to strike on.

The draconic must having nearly blinded Charizard, Magnus slammed two consecutive thunder punches on either of Charizard's wings, causing the fire type to roar in rage and excruciating agony.

But Magnus wasn't done yet.

"Double slash."

His claws elongated and saturated with draconic power, Magnus slashed Charizard's abdomen, before spinning around and slashing three more times on the same spot, the entire action having executed with such speed that even Janet had been left flustered.

"Charizard, use blaze."

Blaze. An ability that increased Charizard's ability to ludicrous levels when it activated. Considering the powerful offense-based attacks that a Charizard was capable of performing, using Blaze was pretty much the beginning of what usually became a kill-off power play.

 _Damn._ Ash scowled. _Damn. Damn. Damn. I need to finish this now._

Blaze was an ability that increased Charizard's power when it was wounded. It greatly enhanced all kinds of Fire type attacks. Considering the fact that Magnus was outrun Charizard in terms of manoeuvrability, the next attack was somewhat predictable.

The problem was, said attack had the potential to wipe out Magnus from the battle altogether.

"Magnus, finish this quickly. Draco meteor."

Janet had a shine in her eyes. It was almost poetic, using the ultimate dragon-type move against her next choice. "Show them Blast burn."

"Magnus, use rush and jump." Ash yelled.

The moment Magnus he threw out the glowing orange blob of compressed draconic energy, he surrounded himself with a mist of dragon rush all around himself as Charizard slammed his fist into the ground, channelling his entire rage, stamina and firepower into the ultimate attack move.

The earth shattered apart, as Magnus flexed his powerful muscles to propel himself upwards, as Blast burn, the fire equivalent of hyper beam, and Charizard's strongest offensive move, slammed into the arena. Under the effects of Blaze and Outrage, the power of Blast burn had been increased exponentially. If not for the fact that Magnus had the ability to shoot up to high altitudes, it would have ended up with a sure shot defeat for the dragon.

But that was not all.

The orange blob that Magnus had propelled out into the sky, exploded far and wide, sending down showering meteors filled with draconic energy, down to a completely spent Charizard.

It was almost beautiful, watching the golden meteors fall down to the ground, onto a weakened Charizard who had just given away his entire power into the single strike.

Magnus returned back to the ground and let out a roar. He had been able to defeat a Charizard, who now lay on the ground, spent and defeated.

It was over.

"Charizard is unable to battle." Janet spoke after a while, returning the fire-type. Had someone looked into her eyes, they would have described the expression as 'practically shocked out of her wits'. She looked up at Ash. "You trained that Charmeleon well."

"Magnus," Ash corrected automatically.

"Magnus." Janet repeated.

"I have three pokémon fit for battle, and you have just two. Who do you think will win?" Ash asked challengingly.

Janet just pursed her lips. "Guess we will have to see."

"Very well. Let's see how well you fare against my next pokémon." She lifted up her next pokeball. "Go, Gardevoir."

 _Gardevoir huh? I wonder what Metagross or Alakazam would make of it._

Ash mused from his vantage point. While Gardevoir were powerful psychics, it was their dual typing with fairy that gave them an advantage while dealing with ghosts. However, contrary to what most people would think, he was _more comfortable_ dealing with Gardevoir and their lines, having had lived with Kirlia for several years.

"Magnus, get yourself some rest." He lifted the pokeball, returning the dragon type. "You are up, Gengar."

A wave of ghostly energy enveloped the battle arena as Gengar appeared in front of Ash and Gardevoir, grinning madly at the prospect of battling the psychic/ fairy type.

"A Gengar, huh?" Janet mused. "Type advantage against psychic. You are betting your victory on that?"

"No." Ash replied. His voice was no longer contained the excited tone with which he had begun the battle. The incident with Crawdaunt and Rhydon had diffused it away. Now, he just wanted to win.

"I'm betting on Gardevoir's weakness against Gengar."

Janet arched an eyebrow. The boy's words were truth, after all. By virtue of her dual psychic/ fairy typing, Gardevoir was extremely vulnerable to both ghost-type and poison-type attacks. And Gengar, fortunately, had both.

"You are betting everything on type advantage?"

Ash's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a sneer. "No, just my own experience talking. Gengar, get closer and use Shadow Ball."

"Now you're talking." Janet returned. "Use Shadow ball as well."

The two ghost-type attacks slammed into each other, exploding in a violent mixture of otherworldly energy. However, because of their proximity, the entire area around them was covered with dense fog of said energies, allowing Gengar ease get closer for her next attack.

"Gardevoir, use disarming voice."

"Disperse, now." Ash yelled, alarmed. Disarming voice was a rather potent tool to be used, especially for fairy-types. Considering Gengar's own lack of vulnerability to fairy-type attacks, turning incorporeal could help in complete neutralization of the effects of Disarming voice.

"Get close and use smog."

"Gardevoir, teleport."

 _Damn._ Ash cursed. He had Gardevoir in a nice little position. The sudden teleport had thrown him out of the loop. "Turn corporeal and use mean look."

"Teleport."

 _Damn._ Ash cursed. "Use double team and use confuse ray."

"Use shadow ball on all of them." Janet commanded, as Gardevoir began to slam shadow balls at Gengar's illusory forms who enclosed her on all ends, firing confuse rays at her. It was difficult, considering that she had to do it while making sure not a single of Gengar's attacks hit her person.

Gengar let out a whimper as one of the shadow balls scored a direct hit on her person, sending her tumbling down into the field.

"Use Sunny day to rest."

Gengar hissed in visible pain, as harsh sunlight pervaded all over the arena. Gardevoir meanwhile, had shifted into _Rest,_ taking advantage of the opportunity.

"Not again." Ash gritted his teeth. Gengar had already suffered the impact of a single sunny day, and another one would be downright detrimental to her. "Return, Gengar."

Gengar gave him a strange look, but didn't refute his command as the red light from the pokeball turned her incorporeal.

"Time to test something else. Go, Magnus."

Janet raised an eyebrow. "You are using an injured dragon-type against my Gardevoir? Is this your way of demonstrating submission?"

"Guess, we will have to see." Ash muttered. "Magnus, use take advantage of the sunny day. Use solar beam."

The black dragon lifted his maw, as the power of the active sunlight enhanced his abilities to create a powerful solar beam. With a roar, he propelled it towards Gardevoir in the form of a shaft of pure light.

"Teleport." Janet replied calmly.

"Keep using solar beam, Magnus."

Janet couldn't understand what Ketchum was up to. Apart from utilizing the effects of a free sunny day like an eat-it-all buffet, it didn't make any sense. Gardevoir was too fast for a move as slow as solar beam to hit her. So far, every single attack had missed her, hitting the ground instead. There was no real point in wasting so many attacks except-

Janet lifted her eyes, as she stared at her challenger.

 _Cunning._ She admitted.

Ash hadn't been attempting to strike Gardevoir. He was making sure that she was running out of places to teleport. With the battle-ground being a grass-type, the application of solar beam in continuous succession had resulted in the grasses to be inflamed, and right now, the two pokémon were standing in the middle of a fiery battlefield, with one of the pokémon nearly immune to fire while the other…

 _Smart move._ Janet confessed to herself. Young or not, the kid had significant battling potential. There was no doubt in her mind that he was battling in the third tier, trainer experience duration be damned.

However, like all good things, it was time for Ketchum's ploy to come to an end.

"Use icy wind, Gardevoir."

"Draco Meteor." Ash commanded.

 _Damn. Damn that kid._ Janet cursed, knowing fully well that she was trapped. Without the application of icy wind, the fiery battle-ground would scorch Gardevoir, but doing so would give the Draco Meteor that was slowly building itself in the air above them.

 _No matter._ "Use Misty terrain."

Misty terrain was an unusual fairy-type technique that created a fairy-type mist all over the arena, and halved the power of dragon-type moves for five turns. It was in effect, a dragon kill-off move. With Magnus having spent nearly all his energy into firing the Draco meteor after such continuous use of solar beam, it meant that Magnus would have a really hard time now, even if he were to stick to normal attacks.

And then it was time, as the orange blob exploded into dozens of draconic meteors which fell onto the battlefield, their energies halved already.

"Use protect." Janet commanded, as a force-field formed all around Gardevoir, protecting her from the effects of the attack.

Ash grit his teeth. "Use flamethrower."

"Moonblast." Janet responded, knowing very well that in the presence of misty terrain, the effect of Moonblast would be magnified several times. Gardevoir let out a long, pitched yell, before propelling the devastating attack onto Magnus obliterating his flamethrower, scoring a direct hit.

Silence reigned the arena for three seconds.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle. Gardevoir wins." Janet pronounced, as she stared squarely at Ash. "Your Gengar is injured, and your Charmeleon is unable to battle. I have two pokémon able to battle, and you have one. Who do you think will win?"

"Guess we will have to see." Ash gritted his teeth, as black onyx eyes stared at the opponent in front of him.

* * *

 **AN: And the Battle Tower begins. I must admit that this has been a hell of a busy week. Well, if it helps, we have a festival over the course of the oncoming week, which should, assuming nothing earth-shaking happens, should allow me to post two chapters quite easily in that duration.**

 **Now, time for answering the reviews.**

" **Slow down the number of pokémon Ash has been getting." - I think I already mentioned that he is going to catch ONE more pokémon before the indigo league.**

" **Ash is super lucky?" -eh? How?**

 **Can I get him all the seven kings and mega-evolutions for all his pokémon? Uh… no. That's so hilarious that's it's not even funny.**

 **AnAddictedReader. That much amount of unappreciated sarcasm was seriously unappreciated. It is in no way, shape or form, necessary.**

 **Ash has always seen Cynthia as more of a Champion and less of a friend, and has always demonstrated a kind of… reverence to her, and is always paying attention when Cynthia is asking something of him, or is even giving him advice. So believe me I find it downright hilarious when that gets compared to a DOM! Cynthia Sub! Ash. Like seriously?  
Also, for that record, many thanks for lector123 for your support. Thanks buddy.**

 **Yes, Cynthia is possessive. Deal with it. She is gorgeous, a Champion and a monster at battling. But yes, she is human and has her flaws. For those she considers her own, she is a downright control-freak.**

 **The Hammer of Justice, I read your entire review. First, thanks for the appreciation. It means a great deal to me. Second, about those assumptions of yours regarding the story. There is really no point in trying to explain where the flaws are, because that would no doubt, become a get-spoilers-free buffet for everyone. So, I suppose you will just have to wait and read it when it comes. Once again, thanks for the review.**

 **TigerJacob, thanks for the support, buddy. I think it is quite natural that in a world where there are species just as intelligent if not more than humans, there is every possibility of inter-species relationship, mental or otherwise.**

 **Ninetales = Bayleef? In a way, yes. In a way, no.**

 **Don't worry. I am not pairing for any multi-pairings in this story. Though, that in no way, dictates that Ash and Cynthia have a happily-ever-after scenario going on.**

 **Okay, that was all. I hope I did the battles justice. If you liked the chapter, please put in a review. Thanks.**


	28. Jaded

Ash stood his ground, with a single pokeball in his hands. He only had Pidgeot to battle for him, since Gengar was hardly an option anymore. At best, she could serve as a revenge-killer for a future battle, and he didn't really want to waste that potential at this point.

"Ash Ketchum?" Janet asked. "Choosing your next pokémon anytime now should be good."

His fingers clenched around the pokeball, as he tried to maintain his hold on his emotions. Ever since he had had that talk with Shelgon, he hadn't really been himself. That level of control he had over himself while battling Gary, it was non-existent, leaving behind a trainer who was using his pokémon's natural strength and his own knowledge of tactics to win his battles. In hindsight, bringing in Shelgon would have, perhaps, been a better idea.

 _I made my bed. I get to sleep on it._ He thought grimly. However, the time for hindsight and lamenting was past. He needed to win and for that, he needed to concentrate on the _now._ His fingers clenched around his pokeball, he threw it high into the air. "I choose you, Pidgeot!"

Her wings spread out, Pidgeot entered the battlefield, the flames almost dying out by the mere gust that accompanied her entrance into the battle.

"That's one unholy specimen of a Pidgeot. Why, I might even…" Janet paused before her mouth overran her mind. Surely it was not possible to permanently…

She shook her head. "Gardevoir, use shadow ball."

Ash took it as his cue and waited, allowing Pidgeot to handle the matters at hand. As quick as Gardevoir was, it was nothing to the raw speed that Pidgeot commanded. In her element, she was the Queen. Full stop.

The shadow ball zoomed past her, missing her completely.

"Gardevoir, use psychic and hold her."

Instantly, Pidgeot's eyes glowed with a bluish sheen, as several dozens of her illusory forms appeared all around the arena, all of them centered on Gardevoir, as they all let out a war cry, completely neutralizing any chance of the psychic attack from affecting her.

"Steel wing." Ash stated calmly.

"Protect." Janet ordered, rolling her eyes.

"Do you never learn?" She asked, as if speaking to a slow kid. She had previously demonstrated that Gardevoir's protect move was strong enough to hold against a Draco Meteor, albeit one that was weakened to a degree. Surely he didn't think that a simple _steel wing_ w9uld be able to get through her-

"GARRR!"

The soul-wrenching shriek from Gardevoir shocked her to her very core, as she stared, shocked and outwitted, at the extremely sharp steel wing attack, which had slammed itself into Gardevoir's abdomen, slashing through it, sending Gardevoir tumbling through the grass, her abdomen now bleeding.

"How- how?" Janet stuttered, shocked at the turn of events.

"Gardevoir needs attention." Ash replied in a stern voice. "Please return her."

Without another word, Janet raised her pokeball, returning Gardevoir back into it, before she sent a glare at Ash. "How did Pidgeot break through the barriers?"

Ash's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a smirk. "Let's just call it my Pidgeot's special ability and leave it at that."

What Ash didn't tell her was that Pidgeot, in her mega-evolved state, had gained the ability _No Guard,_ which made any and all defences between her and her opponent completely irrelevant. As good as that was, it did nothing to enhance Pidgeot's own attacking strength, making her dependent on her own moves and reserves. However, when coupled with Steel wing against a defensive, stationary opponent, the No Guard ability literally guaranteed a clear hit.

Janet stared hard at the _odd_ trainer in front of her, before letting out a sigh. "Very well. Gardevoir is unable to battle, so Pidgeot is the clear winner. That leaves us on a one-on-one footing, only Pidgeot has had two battles so far, and mine hasn't had a single one."

"You remind me of that too much to forget it." Ash quipped.

"I'm just stating the facts as is." Janet shrugged.

"Such a harsh opponent I have." Ash mocked, "Let's begin."

"Let's." Janet gave him a thin smile. "You are up, _Avalugg."_

* * *

The first thought that flitted past Ash's mind was that he had simply heard it wrong and that it must be some pokémon using some bizarre ice-type move to create such a large snowy plain in front of her. The second thought that flitted through his mind was that perhaps, this was some kind of showy covering through which a real pokémon would perhaps break out.

It took the third thought for him to actually realize that this large ice-plain actually had a head and four legs, and was, as unreal as it might seem, the pokémon he was going to battle with.

Avalugg let out a roar.

 _Where the hell do these Tower guys get their pokémon from?_

"He's from the Kalos region, if that's what you are wondering." Janet replied with a smirk. "Use blizzard, Avalugg."

Said pokémon let out a fearsome roar, as the entire arena became drenched with snow, making Ash shiver, as icy cold winds blew on all sides, carrying snow along with it. It was in essence, one of the worst environments a flying type could find herself in.

"Right. It's too cold for my liking, so I will have to change the weather now." Ash retorted. "Use heat wave."

Pidgeot began to beat her wings at high speeds, creating a sharp rise in temperature, as waves of hot air began to radiate out in all directions. Thanks to convection, the hot air moved upward, allowing the snowy-cold air to move downward, centered on Avalugg, allowing Pidgeot to fly above it without any issues.

"Use mist on yourself and attack with powder snow."

 _Powder snow? What the hell is that now?_ Ash yelled inwardly.

It was unnecessary, since the effects were pretty much clear. Enveloping himself inside a mist-like substance, Avalugg began to radiate out what was essentially a powerful gust of snow and icy wind.

"Let's finish this, Pidgeot," Ash decided. The more they waited, the more Pidgeot was vulnerable to the ice. "Use Aerial Ace and strike with Steel wing."

Pidgeot let out a war cry before she dived down to Avalugg, striking him with the powerful steel-type move.

Pidgeot slammed her steel wings into Avalugg, but contrary to what she expected, the attack did _nothing. Nothing at all._ Whatever that mist was about, it was more than effective against her steel wing attack, and surprisingly enough, Avalugg didn't seem to be even affected by the entire attack at all. At the very least, there should have been a significant power reduction in defending against the attack.

"Pidgeot, back to the air." Ash commanded, and luckily, Pidgeot was back before the ice monster was able to make a move. "Use hyper beam."

"Use ice beam." Janet replied dryly.

The two beams slammed into each other, creating a giant explosion. The result was clear as water.

Stalemate.

 _Damn. How do I defeat something that had no reaction to her steel wing? The longer Pidgeot stays there, the longer she gets affected by the environment, and it won't be helping. How can I possibly-?_

 _Wait._

Ash glanced back at Janet, and then returned his stare back to Avalugg.

Then, he lifted his palm and smacked himself in the face.

 _Idiot._

He lifted up his pokeball. "Pidgeot, you were great. Now let me take care of the rest."

Pidgeot let out an apprehensive screech, as the red light sucked it back into the pokeball.

"Your only available pokémon is injured, Ketchum. Is this a declaration of defeat?"

"Huh?" Ash looked up at her, a little confused. "No, I was just being stupid all this while." He lifted up his other pokeball. "Go, Gengar!"

Gengar materialized between himself and Avalugg, looking a lot strained and needing rest. However, what he had in mind wouldn't really take too much for her.

Hopefully.

"Use perish song."

"What? No!" Janet yelled, but Gengar was already grinning madly, as she opened her mouth and let out a soul-wrenching wail, as Avalugg cried out in pain at the noise.

"You tricked me!" Janet cursed. "Avalugg, use Flash Cannon."

Ash smirked. "Disperse."

Avalugg let out a powerful roar, throwing out the powerful burst of bright light that was Flash Cannon, but Gengar was already incorporeal, floating in the air around them.

"Get closer and use Confuse Ray."

Gengar materialized in front of the giant ice-type, as her eyes glowed a nasty red, the confusion attack taking effect.

"Shake it off, Avalugg." Janet yelled, and surprisingly enough, Avalugg shook off the effects, much to Ash's shock.

"… How?"

" _Own tempo_." Janet answered. "Prevents it from getting confused. Now Avalugg, use Blizzard."

 _The… fuck?_

The current situation was a rather unorthodox one. The effects of Perish song made the victim slowly lose their power with every passing second, but for some reason, Avalugg seemed to be regaining his power with every passing second as long as the Blizzard continued. Whatever it was, ability or not, it allowed Avalugg to gain power as long as the hailstorm was going on.

 _Damn._ Ash cursed. It wasn't working at all. Avalugg had managed to counter the effects of Perish song. It was frustrating, but at least, now he knew that his one-trick-pony wasn't a cent percent success.

"Gengar, ret-"

But Gengar, it seemed, had other ideas. With a large grin that she sent towards Ash, she suddenly dissipated from her position, before quickly reforming above Avalugg, as she sent a dark purple beam, connecting herself and Avalugg.

 _Destiny bond._ Ash realized.

But that was not all. Gengar had been slowly shifting into a semi-solid state as she literally _phased_ into Avalugg, the poison that made up her body causing irritation and pain to the large ice-type, as she stared at Ash, throwing in a large grin, before her body began to shine.

Ash's eyes widened as he realized what Gengar was about to do.

"Gengar, no!" He yelled out, his right hand extended outward.

BOOM!

The explosion that happened blew apart the battle arena, and when the smoke dispersed, there was the fallen body of Avalugg, completely unconscious and unable to battle. Above his giant form, there were strips of black fumes that were slowly condensing together, though it was quite clear that doing so, would be taking a lot of time.

"That… was quite a sacrifice." Janet spoke up, her tone muffled. "This was the first time I saw a pokémon _wilfully_ choose to use _Explosion_ of all things to win a victory."

Ash just stared.

"You won the third tier. You can proceed to the fourth. It is said that every tier extracts a terrible price from its conqueror. I hope you have it within you to pay for your next victory."

Ash just kept on staring.

* * *

 **Meanwhile in a different room.**

"Interesting…" The young woman mused, "—and you say that he is not even a trainer for six months?"

"He has three badges, Ma'am." The receptionist informed her over the phone. "I can send his files to your room should you be interested, though it is quite... obvious that he won't be making it to the seventh tier in any shape or form."

"Pfft!" The young woman mused. "An unfortunate situation, indeed. I'd have liked to test someone like this, especially one who's-" she paused, changing her mind. "Tell Jackson that I'll be shifting for him. I need to see for myself just what makes this trainer tick."

"But Ma'am-"

"You worry too much, Ivy." The young woman, known to everyone as the ruler of the seventh tier, the Tower Tycoon, chirped. "Send him to my own floor for his Tier 4 match. I want to see exactly _who_ this Ash Ketchum is."

* * *

Ash trudged himself out of the elevator as he found himself on the next tier—the fourth tier for his next challenge. Over the last three tiers, he had lost Rhydon, Magnus and Gengar. He still had Pidgeot, who could probably fight another battle, and Crawdaunt, who could probably take a few hits before fainting. And then, there were three more—Metagross, Poliwhirl and Absol.

But it barely mattered anymore.

The person who had registered for the Battle Tower had been a different person. From that point onwards, Ash had lost the respect of his own starter, had seen Crawdaunt get injured because of his fault, had seen Rhydon scream in agony because Ash hadn't had the sense to change pokémon when he should have had. He had watched Gengar use explosion on herself only to secure him a win, and that too with that grin on her face.

If someone was trying to show him that he was hardly better than an amateur, someone who chose his own ambitions before his pokémon's well-being and personal choices… then the person was doing a damn good job.

 _Was this your intention all along, professor Oak? To show me just how much I do not know? …Just how much I still have to learn? …Just how much I still have to…_

He shook his head over and over, as if in hope that it would relieve him off the negative thoughts, before looking up at the arena around him. Unlike the previous three arenas, the current one didn't have a well-defined battle-ground. Instead, it seemed like the entire arena was the battle-ground itself, and it was made of…

Ice.

No. Not quite.

Ice and Rock. With shrubbery growing over here and there. The cliff of a mountain, to be exact.

"Welcome." The person standing opposite him, several yards away, had a sort of androgynous appearance, though her voice pretty much gave away her femininity. She had lilac eyes with matching hair, and wore a standard Elite battle outfit of white with lilac trimmings.

"I'm the Salon Maiden Anabel, and I will be your challenge for your fourth tier."

 _The Salon Maiden Anabel?_

The young woman, who looked somewhat around twenty, chuckled. "You can just call me Anabel."

 _Did she just read my mind?_

"I cannot read minds, Ash Ketchum." Anabel answered, keeping a straight face. "Your facial expressions pretty much give it away."

 _Odd._

Ash returned a deadpanned stare at her, as if daring her to continue her non-hilarious jokes.

"Right. The fourth tier." Anabel cleared her throat. "Rules are thus. You have four remaining pokémon in position to continue battling. While the standard situation demands a six on six on the fourth tier, I am willing to bend it down to a four on four to make it even."

"I refuse."

Anabel arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I refuse." Ash replied, his tone cold and devoid of emotion. "If the rules demand a six on six, then I will battle on a six on six."

"You have only four pokémon left." Anabel returned slowly, as if speaking to a child. A very slow child.

"That is my own problem to address. Not yours."

Anabel scowled at his apparent rudeness. Then again, considering what trainers underwent at the Battle Tower, and knowing what Ketchum had been through, it would be hypocritical of her to judge him on his emotions.

"Very well." She replied. "You will get a six on six battle as is the requirement. Substitutions are allowed. I must applaud you on your sense of fair play, Ash Ketchum."

A blank stare met her appreciation.

 _Not much of a talker huh?_ "Very well. Allow me to choose my first pokémon. Go, Alakazam."

Ash raised an eyebrow, as the psi pokémon appeared in front of him. Briefly, he wondered how his own Alakazam would stand against this one. By the looks of it, it was obviously female, considering the short moustaches on its head.

"Very well. I choose you, Metagross."

With a large mechanical roar, Metagross appeared in the battlefield, merrily levitating above the ground. In a matter of seconds, the psychic type estimated his trainer's mental state, as fear gripped him.

 _ **Trainer Ash, hold yourself together.**_

 _I'm fine._ Ash replied, his mental voice sounding lost.

 _ **You are not. If you are not on your best form, I'll lose. We will all lose.**_

Surprisingly enough, Metagross's words got to him. He couldn't afford to let his emotions get the better of him mid-battle. He needed to win. After what Rhydon and Crawdaunt had been through, after Magnus's constant contribution till he remained conscious, after Gengar's sacrifice…

 _You are right._ He confessed, as he pulled up a brave grin. _I'm sorry for that. Come, we have a battle to win._

Metagross let out a loud, mechanical sound, expressing his own amusement at his trainer's attempt at what was his analysis of an extremely optimistic outlook of his situation.

Anabel arched an eyebrow. Ash Ketchum was proving himself quite an interesting trainer. First that strange Charmeleon, and then that even more stranger Pidgeot, and now a Metagross? If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Ash was pulling _miracles_ out of his pockets.

"A Metagross huh? Interesting." Anabel mused. _Alakazam, use psycho cut._

Alakazam let out a loud war cry, manifesting several blades made of psychic energy in front of him, before propelling them towards Metagross, who simply _shifted,_ once again, keeping his movement to the bare minimum, only enough to dodge the attack.

 _Quick reflexes._ Anabel mused.

 _A psychic link like mine then._ Ash mused. This battle was going to be really interesting. _Get closer, Metagross._

Metagross used his agility to slowly move closer to Alakazam, while at the same time, making sure to dodge the incoming barrage of psycho cut attacks.

 _Use confuse ray._ Anabel ordered.

"Alaka!" the psi type yelled, as the spoons glowed with a strange power, propelling dark purple rays towards Metagross.

 _Light Screen._ Ash commanded. _Keep getting closer._

 _Psybeam._ Anabel ordered.

 _Light screen._

Anabel frowned. Using future sight wouldn't really help since psychic attacks weren't effective on Metagross at all. That left ghost-type and dark-type moves. The only problem with them was that it inhibited quick teleportation should she require it. The only thing that she could use was-

She smiled. This she could work with.

 _Teleport close to him and use focus punch._

Alakazam teleported from her position, putting Ash on an edge. _Metagross, get bullet punch ready._

After two seconds, Alakazam appeared to his right, her fists raised, as she threw in a powerful focus punch towards Metagross. Of course, Agility could help the situation, but Ash needed to break the stalemate going on. And that required him to-

 _Take the hit. Use Zen head-butt._

 _ **Leave it to you to think of such simple tactics.**_

Ash rolled his eyes.

Metagross braved the attack, his steel-body allowing him to somewhat absorb the attack, as he propelled himself with psychic energy, slamming into Alakazam, creating a horizontal version of body slam, throwing the psi type down to the floor.

 _Agility. Metal claw._

"Snikt!"

A single slash from the metal claw almost tore through Alakazam's torso, before the psi pokémon had even reached the floor.

 _Alakazam!_ Anabel yelled in her mind, a single line of distraught betraying her composed outlook at the injury of her friend. After some precious seconds, her face softened back, as she realized that Alakazam wasn't as injured as she had previously anticipated. She had managed to pull in a weak _protect_ before the metal claw had struck her.

 _Can you battle, Alakazam?_

Anabel received a confirmation in answer.

 _Very well. Use dark pulse._

Once again, Metagross shifted, using his agility to maximum benefit.

 _This Metagross has been trained to use his personal abilities to the Tee._ She mused, as she regarded Metagross's trainer, wondering how in the world had this… young man, managed to train so many fantastic pokémon in so less time.

 _Be warned, Master. Hyper salivation is known to be a symptom of mental instability._ Alakazam quipped.

Anabel rolled her eyes. _I need something else to battle this Metagross with. Return, Alakazam._ She lifted her pokeball, sucking the psi type into it. Having done that, she regarded Ash. "You have trained Metagross well."

Ash just shrugged, not really seeing the point.

 _Odd._ Anabel mused, as she sent her next pokémon. "Go, Mismagius."

By the looks of it, the purple pokémon seemed like a witch's headgear, with the long, pointy purple hat, and the trimmings flowing down. On the frontal part of its _chest_ were three gems that shone with energy. Ash had had too much exposure to that energy to not recognize the pokémon in front of him.

 _A ghost type, and just as powerful as Professor Oak's._

 _ **Excellent deduction, trainer Ash. I wonder what gave it away.**_

 _It was the hat for me._ Ash replied derisively. He wasn't pretty sure that Metagross did indeed mutter something along the lines of _… "… Doomed."_

"The first move is yours." Anabel offered.

"And I'll take it." Ash returned. _Use agility and bullet punch._

Metagross's eyes glowed…. And he vanished, right before appearing right in front of Mismagius, before raising a sharp claw towards the ghost type.

 _Use mystical fire._ The Tower Tycoon mentally commanded.

Mismagius didn't even seemed fazed by the fact that Metagross was so near her. Instead, her entire body seemed to be enveloped in flames, as Metagross came into her proximity, the claws raised in offense.

 _Will-o-wisp?_ Ash widened his eyes, believing he was seeing Will-o-wisp in front of him. _Use agility and escape._ He replied hastily, knowing very well just how effective the ghostly flames would be on Metagross. _Use Flash Cann0n._

Metagross shifted to a position with a better vantage point, and began to glow with a bright silvery colour, as light energy began to concentrate in front of X right between his eyes.

 _Attack._ Anabel and Ash thought at once, as the flames and the shaft of light slammed into each other, creating an explosion midway.

 _Use shadow ball._

 _Metagross, dodge._

The purple sphere, one that Ash knew and recognized as shadow ball, missed Metagross by several inches as he pushed himself to the right.

 _Again._ Anabel stressed. _Let's see how good this Metagross is at dodging. Use multi-ball._

Mismagius let out a guttural sound that sounded like an incantation, as she kept on firing shadow balls at Metagross, who kept on dodging the incoming barrages with the perfect precision that Metagross were famous for. The shadow balls kept slamming into the ground, before bursting into ghostly fumes, slowly inundating the entire arena with residual ghostly energy.

 _She is trying to turn the environment into her advantage. But if I try to attack, she will overwhelm me with ghost-type attacks. I need to get rid of this constant stale-mate she is putting me through._

Ash paused as he observed the situation. _Normal moves won't work on her, and Mismagius would probably just tweak through psychic attacks. A direct attack would be repelled through-_

He smiled.

 _This… he could work with._ He regarded the levitating pokémon in front of Metagross. _Get as far from her as you can._

Anabel smirked as she witnessed the move that Metagross seemed to be making.

 _So…_ she mused. _You think that getting far will help you? I will show you why you shouldn't think like that._ She smiled. _Mismagius,_ _use Multi-ball. Radial Arc._

Mismagius raised her voice, as the incantations became more and more high-pitched, and the shadow balls began to change their trajectory and instead of the direct translational movement, they seemed to be propelled upwards so that they could fall down like meteors. It was in effect, a ghost-variant of the Draco Meteor.

 _Fascinating. Wonder if Gengar can replicate that._ Ash wondered. "Use zen-head-butt."

Metagross didn't bother questioning his trainer. He had been through enough of his trainer's stunts to grasp the utter unpredictability of his trainer. With a loud mechanical roar, he retracted his limbs upwards, as he pushed himself straight towards Mismagius, aiming for a direct head-butt, knowing very well that a _part-normal_ attack like that wouldn't really have an effect on Mismagius.

 _What is he…?_ Anabel wondered. _Use multi-ball again._

Mismagius let out a chant, as another set of spheres of condensed otherworldly energies formed in a chain around her, ready to be propelled at the first thought.

Ash smirked. "Use agility."

Metagross let out a roar, as he shot towards Mismagius with something that was just a step away from Extreme speed, shooting towards the levitating ghost like there was no tomorrow. If Anabel didn't know that the attack wouldn't so much as put a scratch on her ghost, she would have been more… alarmed at the incoming missile that was Metagross.

"Attack." She voiced her command.

Ash smiled. _Protect._

Anabel blinked in confusion. The move Protect prevented any attacks from striking the user, and had a higher priority, which meant that Protect would be up before the incoming attack would strike the user and-

 _OH!_

"Mismagius, dodge!" She yelled.

But it was too late. Just as expected, the higher priority of the Protect move ensured that it was up before the other moves were taking effect, and that meant that as of now, there was a full-powered shield shooting towards Mismagius.

But that was not the only problem.

The multitude of shadow balls that had shot towards Metagross hit the _Protect_ barrier, which was doing its level best to stop the incoming attack from breaking through, and all of this while Metagross was shooting at Mismagius with psychic-enhanced speeds.

SLAM!

And with that, an explosion came into effect, as Mismagius got slammed by a full-powered Protect, and a multitude of shadow balls on its surface. Like all ghosts, Mismagius was extremely vulnerable to ghost-type moves.

"Mismagius!" Anabel screamed, as the ghost was bodily thrown over the ground, her physical form scratching the surface all the way, as Metagross flew off to the opposite end.

"Flash Cannon!" Ash whispered, knowing very well that Metagross would pick the thought out from his mind either way.

"Met—Taaaa!"

The single shaft of light slammed into the fallen Mismagius, ending any further chance it had for battle.

Silence.

Anabel stared at the fallen body of her friend. Mismagius had put forward a great fight, but had been taken down by trickery. A rather ironic event, considering that a psychic had _tricked_ a ghost. She raised her pokeball, returning the ghost, as she gazed at Ash, as if revaluating him all over again. "Impressive. I certainly didn't expect that."

"I have enough incentive to do my best." Ash returned.

"An adequate reason, yes." Anabel muttered. Her calm and friendly demeanour was gone, and replaced by a cold calculating countenance. "I will not make the same mistake next time."

Ash didn't bother giving a reply.

Anabel lifted off her next pokeball. "I choose you…" She clicked the release button. ".. Delphox."

The pokémon that stood in front of Ash and Metagross was a bipedal, fox-like creature that closely resembled a witch or sorcerer, if not for its feline facial features, and its lush, orange tail on the back. Its body is mainly covered in long, shaggy maroon fur, resembling a robe or dress, with bright orange flame-shaped patches on either side, with large bright yellow ears with long orange fur tufts protruding from the inside.

 _Delphox… that was what she said._ Ash wondered. _Is this also some exotic pokémon from the Kalos region?_

Anabel smiled. _Use flamethrower._

Delphox let out a howl, as she let out an immense torrent of flames towards Metagross.

 _Deflect. Send them back._

"Met—taaaa!" The iron leg pokémon's eyes glowed blue, as the flames were surrounded with psychic energy, as he readied to send them back.

Anabel smiled. Two could play the game. _Force it ahead._

It was almost hilarious. The torrential flames that were supposed to be deflected back seemed to ignore the psychic deflection as Delphox's own psychic effect neutralized Metagross's deflection, allowing the flames to head straight ahead towards Metagross.

 _Shift._

Metagross barely managed to get over the surprise as he shifted to the left, narrowly missing the flame attack.

 _A fire and psychic type? How the hell did she even get such a pokémon?_ He wondered. _First Alakazam, then Mismagius, and now this… Delphox._

 _We are at a disadvantage, Metagross. I think it would be better if I switched right now._

 _ **I can handle the fox.**_

 _But I might need you for something else._

… _ **. You are not supposed to make sense. It is usually my end of the contribution.**_

Ash almost chuckled at Metagross's antics. _Shut up you big baby._ He lifted the pokeball. "Metagross. Return."

Anabel raised an eyebrow. She hadn't expected Ash to switch just like that.

Ash selected another pokeball from his belt. "Absol, you are up."

Anabel's lips curled. _So he has an Absol huh? How… Interesting._

Absol lifted her head to stare at the fox pokémon. Even by the looks of it, the feline in front of her gave the feel of an all-knowing-one, though the waves were considerably less in intensity than she felt in the steel caretaker and the psi.

"Use Dark pulse."

 _Use Flamethrower._

The attack collided midway to create a smoke explosion. Ash clenched his fists. While Absol's dark typing would indeed render her immune to psychic manipulations, it wouldn't stop Delphox from burning her to the crisp.

 _Take her out by surprise. Don't get close. That's the strategy._ Ash committed to himself.

"Use double team and follow it with mean look." Ash commanded, not for the first time reminding himself how uttering commands loudly was an extreme disadvantage. Especially so, when your opponent has the opportunity to avoid the same.

Absol let out a growl as several illusory forms of herself surrounded Delphox in a circle, leering at her, with glowing red eyes. A slight red aura settled around Delphox for a moment, signalling that mean look was now active. Until Absol was substituted from the battle or defeated, Delphox wouldn't be able to leave the fight.

 _Locking me from all sides, huh? Let's see how you manage this one then._ Anabel smiled. _Use Blaze and follow with fire spin. Full power._

Delphox let out a loud howl, surrounding herself with scorching flames, which exploded outward in the form of a fiery t0rnado, towards the illusory dark types surrounding her on all sides.

 _Got her._ Ash decided. "Use Rock Tomb!"

"What?" Anabel literally yelled in surprise, certainly not expecting an Absol to know a damaging rock-type move like that, her eyes widening as the illusory Absol raised their front limbs and slammed them into the ground, as large rock boulders, with sharp edges tore their way through the ground, trapping Delphox as well as the encroaching flames inside it, allowing Absol more than enough time to leap back and avoid the blazing heat.

"Now use perish song." Ash commanded, as Absol let out a soul-wrenching wail, one that made Delphox shiver. Apparently, something about Perish song both _intimidated_ and _horrified_ psychic-types, though he didn't exactly know the details.

 _Smooth._ Anabel had to hand it to him. He had, through a combination of four moves, rendered Delphox trapped, unable to leave the battle and now, officially about to faint in three moves-all of that, while maintaining a safe distance from her, and without even using a single dark-type attack in the entire process.

"That was excellently done, Ash." Anabel praised. "However, I suppose then Delphox has to _burn_ your Absol in less than three moves."

"Absol is rather good at dodging." Ash returned.

"I will take your word on that." Anabel returned with a smile. "However, how will you dodge, if there is no place to do so?"

 _What does she mean by…?_

Something… sinister flickered across Anabel's eyes. "Delphox, use _Blast burn."_

… _Shit._ Ash declared.

Blast Burn, was in layman terms, the fire-equivalent of hyper beam, when used in fusion with earthquake. At the cost of the caster's own energy, Blast Burn literally _annihilated_ the entire arena, bathing it in liquid fire. Plus, with Delphox's Blaze ability activated, it would surely mean the end of the battle for someone like Absol.

Anabel wasn't kidding when she stated that she would burn-

 _Wait._

A thin smile spread across Ash's lips. It would be dangerous, and might even hurt Absol, but it was the best chance they had—a thin line between victory and overwhelming loss.

"Absol, use agility and get closer to Delphox."

Anabel narrowed her eyes in incomprehension, as Absol leapt closer to Delphox, who already had her flaming fists up in the air, her blaze ability fuelling the process as she slammed said fist into the ground, literally tearing the battle stadium apart as Blast burn activated.

"Use magic coat." Ash yelled as l0udly as he could, making sure that Absol heard him, despite the entire explosion, as a silver aura surrounded her body.

Then, the ground shattered as scorching flames sprang upward, inundating Absol completely.

Silence.

One second passed by.

The flames continued to rage.

Another second passed by.

The flames were now falling down, with the rock boulders slowly falling back onto the battle arena, and in the middle of it all, was Delphox, fallen onto the ground, scarred flesh visible through her extensive red fur. With another soft growl, Absol leapt down to the ground, exhausted, and slightly bruised, but obviously able to continue battling.

Anabel stared blankly at her fallen pokémon. Of course, she had no doubt that with Blaze and Blast burn together, Delphox would succumb and faint immediately afterward. In case she didn't, the perish song would make her faint either way. What she had not expected was Absol, still standing and able to battle, despite the devastating attack. She had heard Ash yell out something but because of the explosion, she hadn't been able to hear it. Considering the state of events, clearly Absol hadn't failed to listen and execute his commands.

"What did you do?" She asked Ash, not bothering to hide her confusion and hysteria.

"Magic coat." Ash replied with a sigh. To be honest, he didn't really know the level of control Absol had over the technique Alakazam had taught her back then on the island. Maybe a treat for the old coot was in order. "I chanced that out on Absol's _super luck_ ability as well."

Anabel arched an eyebrow, as his words registered in his mind. Magic coat, of course. _Of course._ The technique reflected status conditions caused by special attacks back to the attacker. Blast burn would obviously qualify as a special attack, and thus, the burns Absol would have received were reflected back to Delphox, which in addition to the sheer exhaustion caused by the execution of Blast burn, had rendered her unconscious immediately. The only injures Absol had on her person must have been because of the rock fragments that were blown up because of the explosion.

Her hands moved up on their own accord, as she clapped. "Well done. I can see now, why the last three tiers were taken by surprise and gotten defeated so easily."

"I don't remember that being easy." Ash clenched his jaw in irritation. The images of Rhydon groaning in agony, and Gengar grinning before creating an explosion instantly came to mind.

"It was." Anabel refuted. "Most trainers that come in, already use at least seven of their team of eight before they manage to get to Tier 4. Of course, half of that is already too exhausted to continue battling."

Suddenly Cynthia's words began to make more sense.

"… _Do people even manage to win at the Battle Tower?"_

" _Of course they do. Those people are known as the Elite Four."_

However, Anabel wasn't done speaking yet. "You have four pokémon, out of which none are yet out of battle. I have six, and already two are dealt with. That says a lot about your skills as a trainer, Ash Ketchum."

Ash shrugged. For good or worse, he had yet to learn how to accept compliments in the face. "Uh… let's just focus on the battle at hand."

Anabel felt a spark of amusement. The changed expression on her face could be adequately described as 'pleasantly surprised'. "Very well. Let's see what you make of my next pokémon." She lifted up her next pokeball, having already returned Delphox back to herself. "I choose you… Medicham!"

Ash arched an eyebrow. What was with Anabel and psychic pokémon? So far, each and every single one of her choices, apart from that Mismagius, had been at least part-psychic. Still, the part fighting-type of Medicham could be downright lethal to someone like Absol, if this one could do half of what Cynthia's Medicham was capable of. In either case, he knew _exactly_ how to fight this battle.

"Absol, very well done. Now return." Ash raised his pokeball.

Absol gave him a look of surprise but did not object.

Anabel looked at him with a curious expression. This was the second time Ash had chosen to substitute his pokémon after a win. First, Metagross after his win against Mismagius, and now this… Truly, this trainer was one unpredictable person.

"Poliwhirl, you are up."

Anabel barely managed to stop her jaw from falling, as she witnessed the tadpole pokémon—a water-type, materialize between Medicham and Ash. Of all the things she had expected, Poliwhirl wouldn't be any of them at all.

 _Medicham has normal effectiveness against water. Poliwhirl has normal effectiveness against fighting and psychic. What is he playing at?_

 _Agility, use thunder punch._

"Cham!" Medicham declared, before instantly vanishing from his point, and appearing right in front of Poliwhirl, his fists brimming with electricity running through the surface.

"Poliwhirl, it is a Medicham." That was all Ash had to say.

Almost instantaneously, Poliwhirl pushed his legs up, allowing him to fall down on his spheroidal body, before propelling a powerful hydro pump at Medicham's abdomen, scoring a direct hit against him, banishing the fighting type away, before standing up again.

Anabel blinked owlishly.

Ash smirked. The technique was something he had come up with while battling Cynthia's Medicham. That fighting type was always a beast when it came to close combat, and it became necessary for him to figure out a means to push the beast back. Of course, knowing Cynthia, she could always whip up a counter if she wanted in the first place.

"Ice beam." He intoned.

"Poli!" the tadpole pokémon lifted his face up and threw up a powerful ice beam at Medicham.

 _Light screen and use agility. Use confusion when near him._

Medicham let out a fearsome roar and drove towards Poliwhirl, completely neutralizing the ice beam shot at him.

 _Oh shit._ Ash almost panicked. "Stop him. Use blizzard."

"What?" Anabel was _almost_ tired of getting surprises thrown at her face. Who in the right mind would try teaching a _Poliwhirl_ a move like Blizzard? After all, Blizzard was one of the apex ice-type moves taught to a fully-evolved pokémon. Even her own ice-types had trouble with that move.

Medicham's sudden agility was brought to an end, as he slipped on the floor, now completely submerged in snow and ice. Being a part fighting type, he was used to quick attacks on hard ground, not on something as slippery as this one. Letting his agility go, he pushed himself with his innate speed, ready to hit him with a confusion the moment he reached close enough.

"Use rain dance." Ash commanded, finally ready to complete the stage he had been setting over the last couple of moves. After all, training with Cynthia didn't just optimise his team. It also allowed him to understand the sheer efficiency of move combinations.

The entire arena was covered with clouds, as harsh rain fell down upon Poliwhirl and Medicham, the former's water-absorb ability allowing it to replenish his own power, while making it difficult for Medicham to keep moving ahead. After all, a passive effect of rain dance ensured that an ice-type move like Blizzard became slightly stronger.

 _Trickster._ Anabel thought, a minute amount of fondness creeping into her tone. "Medicham, use psychic on Poliwhirl."

Poliwhirl felt a strange energy engulf him completely as he was raised above the ground, though the rain dance and blizzard continued to ravage the arena. From his vantage point, it was obvious that Medicham was having a tough time maintaining his composure.

"Bring him close and use force palm."

There were a few loopholes of the _psychic_ trap. Sure, the victim was enveloped in psychic energy, and completely incapacitated as far as using body movements were concerned. However, _psychic_ did nothing to stop attacks which _didn't_ require any body movement at all.

Like water pulse for instance.

Poliwhirl manifested a sphere of compressed water in front of him, and finding himself close enough, propelled it straight at Medicham in the face, as the water pulse exploded on contact, banishing Medicham away into the snowy platform.

"Medicham return." Anabel raised her pokeball, sucking the pokémon in.

 _Damn._ Ash cursed. He was just an inch away from defeating Medicham. He glared at Anabel antagonistically.

Anabel chuckled. "I won't allow my pokémon to lose just because you were having too much fun beating him." She lifted her next pokeball, releasing her next pokémon. "However… your winning streak ends now. Dusknoir, defeat that Poliwhirl."

Ash stared, wide eyed, at the humongous ghost type that stared back at him. The entire physical structure seemed to be enclosed in some kind of protective carapace, with two large hands floating outward, giving a rather sinister appearance with the single red eye peeping through the large headgear on the top.

 _This is what Dusclops evolves into._ Ash thought inwardly to himself.

Almost instantaneously, Poliwhirl was gripped by a reddish aura which dissolved as soon as it had appeared, signifying that Mean look had activated on Poliwhirl.

 _Disable, and follow with Hypnosis._

"Poliwhirl, use water pulse."

The sphere of concentrated water shot towards Dusknoir, who turned incorporeal in the last second, though its hold on Poliwhirl didn't even loosen by a second, as the water pulse passed through its body without any effect. Dusknoir's eyes glowed with eldritch energy, as the tadpole pokémon fell asleep.

"Poliwhirl, wake up." Ash yelled in frustration.

"Don't bother." Anabel replied, a smirk playing on her lips. "Dusknoir, use hex."

Ash clenched his fists as Poliwag cried out in agony, trying to push his appendages outward, only to be locked by the powerful disable attack.

"Now use dream eater."

"Enough!" Ash thundered. "I forfeit. Poliwhirl won't battle any longer."

Anabel raised an eyebrow. For someone who fought like a trickster, Ash sure was impatient when it was his own pokémon caught in a difficult situation. 'You do know that should you forfeit Poliwhirl, you won't be able to use him in-"

"Do I look like I care?" Ash snarled. "Let Poliwhirl be, and stop the attack."

 _He really cares about his pokémon._ Anabel realized. _I didn't realize he was that passionate of a trainer._ "Dusknoir, stop the attack."

Dusknoir's eye glowed again, dropping Poliwhirl unceremoniously to the ground.

Ash quickly ran to the tadpole pokémon, lifting him up in his arms. "I'm really sorry, Poliwhirl. I should have substituted you with someone else. You really fought very well. I am proud of you."

He clicked on the button, sucking the tadpole pokémon inside the pokeball. He selected his next pokémon, and threw her out into the field. "Go, Absol."

Absol let out a growl, as she stared at Dusknoir, instantly realizing it as a ghost type.

"It hurt Poliwhirl." Ash replied vengefully. "Show it what happens when you hurt one of us."

As if in answer, Absol lifted off her maw and threw up a dark pulse at Dusknoir, who created a shadow ball, firing it back in return. The two spheres collided midway, forming dark fumes.

"I suppose you are betting on Absol's type advantage, yes?" Anabel asked genially.

Ash didn't bother to reply. "Use double team and surround it."

 _The same move again? Does he really expect me to fall for it twice?_ Anabel wondered. _Use focus blast._

Dusknoir raised its large fist up into the air, only to slam it down to the ground, creating a radial wave of pure energy outward.

"Leap into the air and use dark pulse." Ash yelled.

 _Double team._

Dusknoir instantly dissolved into dozens of illusory forms, defeating the purpose of the Dark pulse, allowing it to evade the attack and shift places with ease.

 _Use mean look._

Absol growled, before the obvious red shade of mean look appeared and disappeared on its form.

Ash clenched his teeth. _Well, this goes both ways._ "Use mean look as well."

And with that, the two pokémon were trapped inside the arena, with neither of them having the ability to be substituted unless they fainted. A literal battle till the end.

 _This… this I can work with._

It was almost unfair that ghost-types were immune to normal-type moves. It removed the advantage that Perish song could have given Absol in such a situation. That was however, not to say that the situation was bad. On the contrary, with Absol immune to psychic-type moves, and almost invulnerable to ghost-type attacks, Dusknoir would be forced to use moves out of its own typing. Absol on the other hand, was still able to cause significant damage via its dark-type and ghost-type attacks.

"Get closer, use crunch!"

 _Will-o-wisp._

Mysterious, ghostly flames erupted in front of Dusknoir's immensely large forearms, as it directed them towards the incoming Absol.

"Take the hit. Endure it."

"What?" Anabel arched her eyebrows in surprise.

"Now use payback."

 _Oh damn._

Payback was an absurdly lopsided technique, in which the user took damage first and then attacked with a double power. With the will-o-wisp having hit Absol first, she leapt on Dusknoir, before biting on the shoulder with double power, with the viciousness that one could only associate with a dark-type. In less than a second, Absol had _torn_ through several portions of Dusknoir's body, her usually docile temperament given into pure and heartless rage.

Anabel clenched her teeth. _Use pain split._

And Absol let out a wail as she fell off from Dusknoir, who managed to float away during that very moment of weakness. Normal-type moves didn't work on Dusknoir, but they did work on Absol. Pain Split, a status move, brought both Absol and Dusknoir to an equal level of power, enough to raise Dusknoir to a considerable level and reduce its opponent to a more vulnerable position as well.

Ash was torn between gnashing his teeth in anger and doing his best not to grin like an idiot. For any other pokémon, he would have been enraged by what had just taken place. For Absol however, the situation was entirely opposite.

"Use punishment."

Such an absurdly lopsided dark-type move. He had actually gotten himself a custom-made TM for the Absol-line for this particular move, back when he had visited the Pokemart at Cerulean city. Instead of using her own attack-power, Punishment enabled Absol to use a dark-type move against Dusknoir at the expense of Dusknoir's own power stat. Thus, it was a perfect way to get back what Dusknoir had stolen from her.

 _Now only if she manages to pull it off perfectly._

Absol reared her head up, her jaws dripping with dark energy, as she leapt towards Dusknoir, the punishment obviously in effect.

Anabel shook her head, a little conflicted at having to end the battle in such a fashion. _Payback and Destiny bond._

Absol's jaws landed right on Dusknoir's upper extremities, biting off a piece of its _'flesh',_ as Dusknoir, despite its groans, gathered the rise in power it had attained through _payback,_ and used it to enforce a _destiny bond_ between itself and Absol. With Absol doing her worst to ensure that Dusknoir suffered a lot, the empathic link through Destiny bond sent back an equal amount of pain and agony into her, as she fell down on Dusknoir's person, both of them rendered completely unconscious.

Silence.

"It is my defeat if I have had to claim victory like that." Anabel muttered. "Absol and Dusknoir are unable to battle."

Ash didn't even say a word. His mind was too engrossed in repeating Absol's screams over and over inside his ears. This was the second time he had been on the receiving end of Destiny bond. A part of him, the more cynical side, was awed at how _disgustingly useful_ of a move it was. Another part of him, the emotional one, was too busy staring blankly at the fallen form of Absol, draped over the floating Dusknoir.

He silently lifted the pokeball. "Absol. Return."

"Return, Dusknoir."

"Ash, choose your next pokémon." Anabel replied softly.

Ash was past caring now. "I choose you, Pidgeot."

The humongous avian shot out of the pokeball, flying up to the ceiling, as a blank Anabel stared at her in awe and disbelief. "That's not a normal Pidgeot."

Ash didn't bother to answer.

"Nor a shiny one."

Ash's disposition still didn't change.

"Win for me, Medicham." Anabel let out, as the fighting-type materialized between Ash and herself, staring up at the giant avian above him.

 _End it. Use disable on her._

Medicham's eyes glowed with power, as a silvery aura formed around Pidgeot's huge form, trapping her inside a psychic trap.

"Hyper beam." Ash replied, his voice devoid of emotion.

In answer, Pidgeot opened her beak, and began to concentrate energy for a rather nasty hyper beam.

Anabel cursed under her breath. For a smaller and less powerful pokémon, a disable was more than enough to end the game. However, for something of the sheer size as that Pidgeot, it would take the entirety of Medicham's power and mental focus to ensure that the _disable_ held.

That meant that Medicham was completely vulnerable to the hyper beam.

"Pidgo!" Pidgeot let out a war cry, inundating the entire arena with her hyper beam.

 _Let her go. Use protect._

Medicham relinquished his hold on the disable lock, before surrounding himself with an energy barrier to protect himself from the devastating attack. It was a testament to his strength that the barrier didn't budge, even under the overwhelming force of the hyper beam.

However, Ash was far from being done with it.

"Double team, finish with steel wing."

Almost instantaneously, the entire arena was filled with a dozen illusory forms of Pidgeot floating above Medicham, their wings glowing like liquid light. With another war cry, the illusory forms declared war and pounced down at Medicham.

 _Use bide. And protect._

Medicham closed his eyes, calling in his entire psychic strength, one that gave him enough awareness to identify the real Pidgeot out of the illusions and manifested a barrier only in that particular direction.

Pidgeot came swooping down, and just like before, the barrier seemed to go incorporeal, as her steel wing slammed into Medicham, sending him thrashing into the ground, injured and exhausted, but still able to fight.

 _How…?_

"Hyper beam."

 _Leap up, use agility and return with counter._

In the matter of seconds, Medicham was up in the air, before he came slamming down onto Pidgeot from the top, a powerful focus punch right on Pidgeot's abdomen, as she let out a squawk of agony, before falling down to the ground.

"Pidgeot!" Ash yelled, but Anabel was faster.

"Hypnosis."

And just like that, Pidgeot was entrapped inside a psychic trap, unable to move, unable to attack, lost inside a world of complete and utter confusion.

 _Use high-jump kick, and end the battle._

"Medi!" The meditation pokémon leapt into the air, before slamming down a kick down Pidgeot's wings, making the avian cry out in pain, before losing consciousness.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle." Anabel replied in an emotionless voice. "Return her and choose your next pokémon."

Ash silently returned her. It was no surprise who his last pokémon would be. "It is all up to you now, buddy." He muttered at the pokeball. "I choose you, Metagross."

And the iron-leg pseudo-legendary entered the battle.

* * *

If she were completely honest with herself, Anabel would have sworn that this one was one of the best matches she had had over a long time. The person that had attempted the Battle Tower before Ash had reached won the fifth tier, before getting defeated in the sixth by Jessica. The trainer, one Paul from Sinnoh, had been a rather powerful one, with highly-trained pokémon, and a trainer-experience of over four years.

But this?

Where on earth had a newbie trainer, one who hadn't even attained past his handicap limit, learnt to battle like this? If she hadn't known any better, she would have sworn that she was battling one who had been to a conference and returned with a Top-8 position at the very least.

And to think that he was only in his fourth month of pokémon training.

Anabel shivered as excitement ran through her very skin.

Absol. Poliwhirl. Pidgeot. All three of his pokémon were masterfully trained. And considering the battle between Mismagius and Metagross back in the beginning, and what with Ash keeping Metagross for his last, it was vivid that Metagross was his strongest, and if not, then the most versatile at the very least. It was almost sad that such a person would have to stop his journey, defeated at the fourth tier in her Battle Tower. She wouldn't have minded at….

Anabel stopped the thread of thoughts running through her mind.

 _You are one interesting individual, Ash Ketchum. I will have my eyes on you._ She decided inwardly.

"Medicham finish this." She ordered.

* * *

Ash stared at Medicham, as Metagross materialized beside him.

 _You are all I have left, buddy._

 _ **And that will be enough.**_ Metagross replied with confidence, as he stared at the rapidly encroaching Medicham, his supercomputing mental facilities analysing the meditation pokémon to superlative degrees- the speed of his movement, the trajectory, the distance, his stride, his movements, his tilts, right to sixteenth place of decimal.

A shining limb suddenly appeared in front of air, a rather potent focus punch, should it manage to make a hit on him. However, coming close and making a hit were two different things, especially considering that a large iron-limb had _pushed_ Medicham's elbow to the right by seventy-nine degrees, enough to divert the path of the trajectory and making it hit-

SLAM!

The focus punch, now redirected off its course, hit Medicham straight in the solar plexus, banishing him away, the recoil having an adverse impact on his own shoulder, possibly causing delocalisation of the shoulder bone.

Not that Metagross cared. He had a battle to win.

And he vanished.

Only to appear in top of Medicham, exactly three feet in the air, before letting his psychic powers, one that maintained his constant state of levitation, fade away.

Crunch.

That was possibly the sound of Medicham's other elbow breaking, the one that was initially at a forty-seven degree and twenty-two minutes angle to his chest, now slightly increased to fifty-six minutes.

Effect of a localised body slam.

* * *

Anabel stared at Metagross in utter incomprehension, having been on the receiving side of a Metagross's efficiency in battle for the first time. It was vividly clear that Ash had trained Metagross to be utterly efficient and effective in battle.

She smiled. Yes, her decision to battle Ash Ketchum had been a really, _really_ good one. And now she knew why.

"Medicham is unable to battle." She muttered, before returning the pokémon back into his pokeball, as she plucked out her next -the one she had avoided using for all this time. Her own starter.

"I choose you… _Metagross!_ "

An enormous mechanical roar, as if thousands of metallic rims were sliding on top of each other, inundated the entire battle arena, as her own Metagross appeared in front of Ash's own. It was obvious that her own pokémon was older, considering that it was at least one foot taller than Ash's pokémon, and looked larger, and overall stronger, if the large claws at the ends of its iron limbs were of any indication.

"You… have a Metagross as well?" Ash spoke up. For some reason, Anabel felt extremely _happy_ at hearing the considerably distinct tone of uncertainty seeping into his tone.

"He's my starter." She returned with pride. "I hope you will give him a fair fight."

* * *

Ash stared at the Metagross in front of him with a mix of awe, uncertainty and to some extent… excitement. He and Metagross had fought several pokémon over the course of time that they had shared together, right from the point when he had captured him as a Metang. However, this was the first time they were facing a Metagross in a formal battle.

 _Did you battle any Metagross at the colony?_

 _ **Choosing a losing battle is a human disorder, trainer Ash.**_

The trainer from Pallet rolled his eyes at the obvious jab, but digested it. _Then I suppose we will see how good you are against someone of your own level._

 _ **That is, as unfortunate as it is, your job. Mine is to do the actual battling.**_

 _Shut up._

"Are you ready, Ash?" Anabel asked.

"… Ready." Ash muttered.

 _Agility with bullet punch._ Both trainers thought in unison, as both Metagross literally teleported from their positions, only to appear in the middle, their iron claws slamming into each other, steel barging into steel.

Anabel's soared up to hit a body slam, Ash's one would push himself back with psychic. Ash's Metagross would throw a hyper beam, a Flash Cannon would be sent back in retaliation. A sniping offence would be met by a grand defense, while short-ranged defense invited overwhelming attack.

Anabel's Metagross came with an unstoppable force.

Ash's own retaliated, with an equal and no less deadly force. With complete ruthlessness, Ash's Metagross tore into Anabel's own.

 _Zen head-butt._

 _Agility, attack with meteor mash._

 _Reflect._

 _Push back and use bullet punch._

The sounds of steel on steel reverberated through the entire arena, as the two steel behemoths landed blows on each other, and accepted equally powerful blows in return.

 _Move back and use Flash Cannon._ Anabel communicated.

 _Use substitute and take it by surprise._ Ash countered.

Metagross created a life-sized decoy in front of him, allowing it to take the force of the impact, before quickly using agility to get closer to the other Metagross, only to slam its leg against the opponent's own. From the way it looked, Anabel's Metagross was superlative in its skill of computing trajectories, which only left a single option.

He would need to be tricked his way out.

 _ **Trainer Ash, any suggestions?**_

 _Now you need my aid?_

 _ **I always refer to your superlative judgement in such matters.**_

Ash rolled his eyes, as he considered the situation. Truth be told, he was himself at an impasse, unable to understand how to get rid of this stalemate. It was almost like fighting against one's own self, a rather frightening situation to consider. He closed his eyes as he tried to get some hare-brained idea to pull out of his ass that might allow him to go past this situation. The only thing he could remember was-

…

…

The book gifted to him from Derrick came to mind.

 **There are two kinds of psychic manipulators- manipulators of the mind, and manipulators of force. The Abra-line is a quintessential example of the first kind, and are extremely skilful at manipulating minds, emotions, illusions and the like. This… versatility also shows itself in the wide range of psychic moves that an Alakazam is capable of. Of course, there is also the Gardevoir-line and the Xatu-line, who are able to overspecialize this ability into clairvoyance, but that is beside the point.**

 **The other kind, or the manipulators of force, are the more… physical side of psychic pokémon. The Drowzee-line is perhaps best-suited to this kind of psychic manipulation, and are able to use psychic energy as a tangible weapon. An Alakazam would consider using psychic energy to create a powerful hypnosis-based move, but a Hypno would use it as a sledgehammer.**

 **Despite the innate differences that lie between the intangible and tangible use of psychic energy, it is clear that in both cases, the energy is used by the user against an opponent.**

 **This is where Metagross shows a considerable and unique deviation, well, almost unique, considering that its cousin line, the Bronzong, are also capable of demonstrating such attributes, albeit at a lesser extent. Instead of channelling the psychic energy outward, Metagross channel it inward, almost like turning themselves into a machine with psychic energy used as fuel, instead of being a machine that throws out psychic energy as output as is the case for Alakazam and Hypno—a rather thin but no less important distinction.**

 **Because of its unique processing of-**

 _ **Trainer Ash?**_ Metagross's words pulled Ash back from his thoughts, as the sounds of steel clashing on steel came to mind.

 _I am thinking… I am thinking… but everything I plan out seems to get counteracted by something else. As long as it can see something coming, it will be able to compute the result and act accordingly. A rather… annoying thing._

 _ **I do the same against opponents.**_

 _Yes, but it is against opponents, so it doesn't count._

Ash could have sworn that Metagross had just given a mental sigh.

 _I need to reduce the efficiency of the machine to slow it down. How do I slow something that is going to counter every single physical attack I make on it?_

… _._

… _._

 _Shit._

Metagross gave a mental grin, as he agreed to the mother of all ass-pulls.

* * *

Anabel had been silently watching as her Metagross played around, matching Ash's Metagross blow for blow. Every single attack had been parried with equal ferocity and efficiency, creating what could possibly be termed as a perfect stalemate scenario between two opponents, both of which were blessed with supercomputing mental facilities. The only obvious solution seemed to let the battle go on and on, and until it was declared to be a draw, or if one of them made a mistake out of their lack of battle experience. Though, considering everything, the chance of that happening was as good as zero.

"Metagross, use hammer arm." Ash began.

 _A fighting type attack for a change perhaps?_ Anabel wondered. She had had enough experience dealing with Ash to spot when he was doing something unpredictable. Considering the last couple of battles, this might be the start of something completely maddening once again.

She chuckled.

 _Use focus punch._

The two Metagross rammed into each other, and surprisingly, Ash's Metagross was the one to receive the injury, as he fell down to the ground, the force of her Metagross's focus punch sending him straight down to the ground.

 _This is my chance. Use meteor mash._

"Met—taaaa!" Her Metagross roared, before slamming the powerful steel-like move down to the earth, straight towards Metagross.

 _Take the hit on one claw and hit on the head with another._ Ash commanded.

The meteor mash fell.

Metagross groaned, as the powerful steel-type attack hit its claw, possibly disintegrating one of the bones. His somewhat feeble resistance to steel-type moves only saving his claw from becoming completely dismembered.

The painful look on his face was distinct.

The surprised expression on Anabel's Metagross, not so much.

 _Hammer Arm._ Ash yelled inwardly, as Metagross twisted upward, slamming a sideways slam of his forelimb into Anabel's Metagross, and sending it thrashing into the ground.

"EARTHQUAKE!"

"Met—Taaaa!" Metagross lifted himself off the ground, before slamming his forelimb into the ground, creating a powerful seismic wave, one that scored a direct hit on Anabel's Metagross, from the sounds of it.

Only Ash wasn't done with it.

 _Get on top, and get hitting._

Metagross didn't need any further telling. In less than a fraction of a second, it was on top of the other, slamming bullet punches at peak efficiency at the other's face, one after another.

Consistently.

 _ **Go to sleep! Go to Sleep! Go to sleep!**_

Thunk!

Or… well, as consistent as it could be, before the other Metagross, despite his agony, had managed to lift its forelimbs, to stall the attack, and was glaring at Ash's Metagross with unbridled fury.

… _ **. I'm sorry?**_

 _Finish it._ Anabel commanded with a mundane finality.

"Met-Taaaa!" The larger Metagross gave out a long, drawn-out, metallic roar, as its body began to shine, enough for Ash, now horrified, to raise the pokeball and call out-

BOOM!

It was too late.

"Metagross!" Ash yelled in anxiety, running into the battlefield, only to fall on top of a large steel contraption like thing, injuring himself, before he realized that it was Metagross's claw.

"Metagross…" He muttered, wide-eyed, as he stared at the smoking body of Metagross, completely unconscious and on the ground.

"Meta-" The words stuck in his throat, as he tried to say them, only to realize that he was short of breath. Enraged, he got up, and yelled at Anabel. "What the fuck kind of battling are you doing here? You… you want to win… you want to win so desperately? You desire for me to lose so desperately?"

"Ash…." Anabel replied in a composed tone. "To defeat the challenger is the sole objective of the Battle Tower."

"At what cost?" Ash yelled back. "I came here to fight, to see my potential amongst other trainers… to see if I…." He couldn't bear it anymore, as his knees gave away. "I broke Shelgon's… Shelgon's faith in me, for this. I made my friends' suffer all throughout this… this journey through spineless cowards who would stop at nothing unless it meant defeat of the challenger."

"Ash, the battle is not over yet." Anabel replied calmly. "You still have your Crawdaunt for battle and-"

The glare she faced was enough to shut her up.

Ash was done with it. He was done with the Battle Tower, with all the incentives that it offered. "I came here to prove my worth. I am leaving with regrets." He paused for a moment. "Can I get my pokémon back?"

"They…." Anabel paused. They have been treated by our medics and will be available to you at the recipient's office."

"…." Ash murmured something incomprehensible under his breath. He knelt beside the still smoking body of his trusted friend, one would now take a long time to be completely cured of his injuries. He remembered Shelgon's judging eyes, Rhydon's groans, Gengar's haunting grin right before his own sacrifice, Pidgeot's screeches and Absol and Metagross being taken out like that. All of those images…. Swirling in front of him in an unending loop.

Sure he had lost, but victory and defeat had lost its meaning back when he had lost Gengar. He had only been pushing himself to see _just_ how far he could progress. He had simply not known that his pokémon would continue to pay the price for his ignorance.

For the first time, after since Gary had broken the GS Ball in front of his own eyes, Ash Ketchum curled into himself and cried.

* * *

 **AN: This was a rather hard chapter to write. I just couldn't decide which pokemon to choose for Anabel in the first place. Only today morning, I had a nice collection set in my mind, after which I started to write the Anabel section, which is pretty much 75 percent of the entire chapter. I hope I managed to do the chapter justice. Either way, please put in a review if you liked the chapter. Thank you.**


	29. Uncertainty

Anabel observed the young teen crawl into his knees as he sat on the ground, his hands touching the still smoking body of Metagross, who looked quite impaired, an obvious consequence of suffering the brunt of a point-blank explosion attack, especially one made by a steel-type like Metagross . For some reasons, explosion attacks made by the ground and steel-types were, in general, much more powerful than the average type. However, bearing the brunt of an explosion, was so to say, much of an acquired experience—it became easier the more you were exposed to it—almost akin to the manner how a pokémon slowly adapted to those attacks it was vulnerable against.

Slowly, painfully, and with a lot of time and effort.

He had outright stated that he wouldn't be continuing the battle any longer, which meant that this was where his conquest of the Tower would come to an end. A pity indeed, considering she wouldn't have minded seeing him battle some more. She had seen a lot of passionate trainers before this, and had stood on the crushed hopes of more than a hopeful few, though considering her stature as the Tower Tycoon, her peers were granted the opportunity much more than herself. Then again, she had the trainers attempting for the Battle Frontier all to herself.

She cast another glance at Ash Ketchum, her lips parting at the thought of saying something. Ash was still down on his knees, a look of blank shock still vivid on his countenance. Anabel wondered if he would even listen to her words should she try to speak to him.

So naturally, it was a surprise when red light flashed out of his poke-belt, as one of his pokémon released themselves out in the open- possibly because his elbow had hit the release button.

The red light condensed to form the shape of a large, golden Ninetales, her nine tails folded backwards as she regally stared, an inscrutable expression on her face, as she regarded Anabel, with her sharp, bright, crimson eyes.

 _ **Empath.**_

Anabel arched an eyebrow. All right, perhaps this wasn't what she had expected. The pokémon… _A Ninetales with significant psychic awareness-_ had gotten out of her pokeball to talk to _her,_ without her trainer's will and knowledge. A rather conspicuous feat, considering not even her own Metagross had been able to decipher that aspect of her innate capabilities, until he had evolved into his final stage from a Beldum—a period that took him over a year.

And this… Ninetales, seemed to have already _known_ her identity as an empath before she had decided to have a conversation with her in the first place.

Anabel allowed a soft smile grace her face, as the Ninetales spread her psychic awareness outward, freezing the entire room, taking it completely out of the flow of Time. For reasons Anabel didn't possibly comprehend, she _knew_ that aside from her and Ninetales, _only_ Ash's Metagross, who was somewhat conscious, at far as his psychic awareness was considered at least- was aware of the changes that had occurred in his proximity, and if she was right, he was currently observing the Ninetales with a mixture of curiosity and outright wariness. Her own Metagross had fainted on the spot after he had used Explosion, and as far as Ash was concerned, the entire event wouldn't even register in his mind, considering he was currently as good as a puppet, frozen in Time.

"I assume you wish to speak to me about something."

 _ **I do.**_ The Ninetales seemed… conflicted for some reason, as she cast a worried glance at her trainer. Then, she turned her sight towards Anabel, looking at her squarely in the eye. _**I understand that facing defeat is a necessity in the path to greatness, and I do mean this with the most respect…**_

She raised her nine tails upwards, forming a half-corona above herself, as the usual pink shade shifted into _crimson red vermillion,_ and the world around herself and Anabel…

Changed.

The floor stood as it was, devastated, broken, fragmented, with the two Metagross on the ground—one partly conscious and one not, and a frozen Ash Ketchum, and standing on either end, Anabel and Aoi, and the entire universe around them… enveloped in pitch black, dense, _sentient_ fog. A fog whose very presence would have been more than enough to get any psychic crying out in agony, a fog that was something into which even ghosts feared to tread, a fog that was the very essence of the powers that felines like Absol used to their benefit.

The Void, or to use the human term.

Distortion.

 _A psychic pokémon with control on distortion? What is this… creature?_

It was almost like the entire floor was enveloped by the fog, the surface of an alien dimension that _didn't exist,_ with the Ninetales on its very surface, without a care in the world, her tails raised and bright crimson, glowing ominously just like her eyes.

"… Crimson red vermillion…." Anabel stuttered, her face an expression of suspended belief, staring blankly, her mind conflicted between trying to accept what she was witnessing and trying to comprehend the sheer absurdity of the same.

 _ **For centuries, the Void has been my abode, and truth be told…**_ The Ninetales spoke as if having a casual conversation. _**Ash is my only reason to exist in this world. I understand that this world is full of both innocent and selfish people, either of which might have nothing to do with Ash in general, but…**_

She paused, as Anabel held her breath.

 _ **Ash… is my master, my trainer. So I cannot comprehend the existence of a world that has the nerve to permit the survival of that which distorts, or worse, harms my trainer. It is… intolerable to me.**_

Anabel told herself that she was just _seeing_ things. After all, she _must_ have imagined the shape of a colossal sauropod with wings, glaring at her with ominous, crimson eyes, through the very distortion itself. Yes, she _certainly_ must have imagined seeing the outline of _the fallen_ behind this… this unstable little psycho of a Ninetales.

The peaceful look in her bright crimson eyes told her that the Ninetales was speaking the truth. She would actually unleash distortion into the world should something… sinister befall Ash Ketchum.

Anabel swallowed. The more cynical part of her wanted to point out that the Battle Tower existed to give a harsh time to challengers, showing them their weaknesses and limitations as harshly as possible. There was a reason after all, why only senior and Elite-level trainers even attempted their luck at a Battle Tower. The only reason Ash's application had been accepted had been because of the name on the sponsorship— _Samuel Oak,_ and the fact that he was an Honorary associate of the League. She had simply thought that Ash was one of those prodigies that came once in a thousand.

She hadn't certainly expected…. Well, this.

"There is…" Anabel swallowed again, gathering her words, "There are no such intentions in my mind. I simply treated Ash in the same manner the Tower treats all challengers, nothing better or worse."

The Ninetales kept staring at her with an inscrutable expression on her face. _**Then you have nothing to worry about, I should say.**_

Anabel kept a straight face. It would not do to demonstrate weakness before this… this… creature. Much to her solace, the dense fog seemed to slowly evaporate away, as her own awareness registered the world around her, just as she remembered it. The Ninetales in question, had folded her tails back into her regal posture, and if Anabel was correct, then the entire transaction had passed in _no time._

 _I have never seen Crimson Red Vermillion manifested like that. A single tail… yes, but all nine? No way that just a Ninetales._

Anabel gave a sideward glance at Ash. The boy certainly did attract the incomprehensible and the interesting.

 _What are you, Ash Ketchum?_ She couldn't help but ponder inwardly.

* * *

Apparently, the Battle Tower had its own medical experts, and used highly advanced healing potions and equipment for better and most efficient treatment for the wounded pokémon, a privilege only offered to challengers who progressed beyond the second tier. That certainly explained how the more wounded members of his team, namely Crawdaunt, Rhydon, Gengar and Metagross, who would have, under _ordinary_ Medicare facilities, shouldn't have been healed before twenty four hours at minimum, were returned to an understandably frantic Ash Ketchum by eight in the evening, after which the clearly exhausted trainer had sought residence at the Pokémon Center adjacent to the building, for the rest of the night.

That was not all.

He had, checked up his trainer profile on the pokedex, if only to see what the hellish experience he had been through had contributed, if at all. So it was a rather surprised Ash Ketchum who had taken a read at the new description that came attached to his profile.

 **Intermediate Trainer Level 2.**

He blinked. Then blinked again.

 **Intermediate Trainer. Level 2.**

Surely he was imagining? An intermediate trainer was someone (he had checked out the finer details on the League open server) was someone who had acquired, a minimum of five badges, and heading for his sixth. They were further described as Level 1 to 3, depending upon whether they had six, seven or eight badges respectively. For him to be determined as a Level 2 simply meant that his ability as a trainer was at the same level as the average trainer who had attained seven badges in his first conference event, hardly a minor feat for someone with less than four months of active life as a trainer.

And even then that was not all.

Ash stared at the tiny contraption he had gotten at the reception, when he had been asked to put his signature on some documents, verifying the conclusion of his use of the facilities of the tower, and some more regarding the treatment of his pokémon by the Tower medics. Apparently, a challenger was awarded a certain number of _battle points,_ after a comprehensive analysis of his battle style, choice of pokémon, mode of combat, skill and knowledge of pokémon abilities, and his own decision making. The battle points were accumulated together and depending upon the final value, the Battle Tower would provide the challenger with a certain item, which could be something simple like a single ultraball to something super rare like a Dusk stone.

He opened the contraption once again, still not believing what he was seeing. There, inside the contraption, sat four spheroids, each having the top-half painted with a light pink shade and the bottom with a forest-green color. In the middle, was the medical + symbol on the release button, giving away the identity of the four items he was staring at.

Heal balls.

Unlike pokeballs or its other variants, Heal balls weren't registered to any particular trainer. Instead, the function of a Heal ball was to take in an injured pokémon and heal its superficial injuries, and raise its power levels to the maximum, given enough time, which was usually around five hours for an extremely injured pokémon. Deeper lacerations and injuries were out of the Heal ball's ability to rejuvenate, though the better levels of stasis through suspended animation did keep the pokémon free from its pains until proper treatment could be meted out to it at Pokémon centers. Also, unlike the pokeball or its variants, a Heal ball wasn't limited to capturing or holding a single pokémon, and instead served as a healing device for all pokémon out there, both captured and the wild kind. For someone like Ash, the four heal balls were a Godsend.

 _ **I believe you have been staring at them on and off for the last hour.**_

Ash chuckled mirthlessly, having caught red-handed by Aoi, who was casually draped on the couch beside the fireplace. It was quite late, and all of his pokémon were resting inside their respective pokeballs, with the exception of Metagross, who for some reason, seemed adamant on being out in the open, his large iron appendages covering an area larger than the four-poster bed Ash had to himself.

"Just staring at the results of this endeavour." He answered after a moment. "The day had taken a long toll, and the results go on to prove what a horrible trainer I am."

 _ **You are not a horrible trainer, Ash.**_

"You are biased," Ash replied, "so your vote doesn't count."

Personally, Aoi could swear that each and every one of the team, with the exception of the murderous soul-less ghost and the vengeful tree of course—would have contradicted with Ash's statement. In fact, the brain-waves emanating from the steel behemoth to her right merely confirmed her position on that statement. Of course, for some reason, the steel behemoth simply remained silent and silent, pretending he was asleep.

Aoi had no issues with pretending she thought him asleep as well.

 _ **Maybe…**_ the Ninetales purred. _**But the fact remains. The change in your trainer stature proves your worth. Isn't that what the Battle Tower was about?**_

Ash opened his mouth, but then looked away, staring back at the heal balls in silence. "It was, and yet, it wasn't. I…. I want to be a better trainer, not a better winner. Sure, my victory demonstrates my progress, but what good is that progress if it all ends up with my team blowing themselves up, just to acquire me some measly bit of satisfaction that I am better than my opponent?"

 _ **Isn't that the purpose of a battle? Either one of the battlers has to get hurt.**_

"Yes, through a battle of attrition, and using tactics. Not through suicide." Ash retorted.

 _ **Then you must be enraged at the shadow for choosing to do the same?**_

"Of course I am. How can you even ask me that? I want them to win using strength and tactics. I want to win because I myself made the better decisions than my opponent, because my pokémon and I connect better than my opponents do." He paused. "Gengar… using that explosion to win me a victory… got me defeated instead."

Aoi arched an eyebrow. _**Has it occurred to you that Explosion is also… counted as a way of attack?**_

Ash gave her a defiant stare. "Has it occurred to you that the Team Rocket grunts… are also pokémon trainers? Should I throw away my ideals because someone else does?"

 _ **If you wish to achieve victory, you need to take tougher decisions, Ash Ketchum.**_

"Not by that. No. I'd rather suffer defeat than have my team suffer to get me a win."

 _You are unbearably naïve, Ash Ketchum._ Aoi thought inwardly. _However, that doesn't make your words any less true either._

"I need to get better." Ash went on, speaking more to himself than to Aoi. "I need to get better at analysing movements, attack patterns, abilities and loopholes. If only I had been a little better, then things wouldn't have turned out the way they should have been."

 _ **And then there is the baby to consider.**_

"His name is Shelgon." Ash refuted automatically.

Aoi rolled her eyes. For one thing, Shelgon was the name of that particular stage for that draconic species, a generic term used to address them. Obviously, Shelgon wasn't fully-evolved, and as such, wouldn't really _receive_ the wisdom to know and comprehend his own _true name_ yet. As such, calling him a baby was completely fine, considering how… irrational he was being. Surely the big baby didn't expect his trainer to choose him over the better and more competent pokémon for an event of such profound significance?

After taking up residence at the pokémon center for the night, Ash had released Shelgon to talk about the events of the day, in a half-hearted attempt to try explain his reasoning, and just how diabolical the opponents at the Tower were. Ash had even apologised, repeating the fact that he had been in a situation when he had to choose between his personal preferences, his emotions, and rationality. The other pokémon had an extra advantage compared to Shelgon, and that was why he had chosen them. Nothing else.

Shelgon had patiently listened to everything before slowly moving ahead, and letting himself sucked into the pokeball once again, something that hadn't gone well, _at all,_ with his trainer.

Aoi cast a sideward glance at Ash, who was doing his best trying to fool everyone that he was _fine,_ and not completely rudderless, now that his starter was not even communicating with him properly. An endearing fool, but a fool nevertheless.

 _Like trainer, like pokémon._ She decided.

She caught some agitation coming out of the steel behemoth, and decided it was time.

 _ **Ash?**_

Said trainer looked at her, or more specifically, at her glowing crimson eyes. "Yes?"

 _ **I think you should sleep. It's been a long day.**_

The sudden yawn that erupted out of him made him feel surprisingly agreeable to her suggestion. "I suppose you are right. We'll… talk tomorrow." He kept the box with the heal balls on the table, before getting himself on to the bed, pulling the covers off himself.

"... Night."

Another pair of crimson eyes glowed ominously in the darkness immediately after.

* * *

Aoi watched her lovable, if somewhat oblivious trainer go to sleep, without a care in the world. She didn't really want to manipulate his psyche like that, but with the amount of conflicting emotions in his head, there was little to no chance of him getting some shut eye. After all, they would continue their journey tomorrow morning, and Aoi certainly didn't want her trainer at anything but his peak form.

 _The things I have to do…._

Aoi let out a sigh, before turning towards the steel type, before sending a mental message. _**You can stop pretending, you know. It is not like our trainer can sense the inner workings of a psychic's mind.**_

Metagross's eyes opened instantaneously, his dark crimson eyes glowing in the darkness, as he stared at Aoi with undivided attention.

 _ **I witnessed you call Distortion into reality.**_ Came the direct statement, in an inexcusably accusing tone.

Aoi sighed. _**Yes, and I pretended that you didn't witness it. Does that make us even?**_

The complete silence that followed, even between the two psychics, was more than adequate to answer her question.

… _**I don't trust you.**_

Aoi rolled her eyes. _**You shouldn't. My bond is with my master and trainer. Not with you.**_

… _**Trainer Ash seems to trust you.**_

 _ **Why do you call him trainer?**_ Aoi asked out of random, throwing Metagross out of the loop.

 _ **Stop evading my question.**_

Aoi sighed. _**Yes, he does. A rather oblivious and childish aspect to his personality, though of course, no less lovable.**_

 _ **That doesn't give me the assurance that you won't use him for your own purposes.**_

 _ **I could accuse you of the same, you know.**_ Aoi threw back.

Metagross looked antagonistic. _**My trainer has my complete loyalty.**_

 _ **I thought that the iron-legs owe their complete loyalty to all that is iron-legs.**_ Aoi shot back, knowing very well that it wasn't untrue.

Metagross seemed silent for a moment, as Aoi felt her chances for ending the topic rise. Then, the steel type answered back.

 _ **Your attempt at enraging me in hopes of digressing away, won't work.**_

Well… it was worth a try anyway.

 _ **Isn't that a pity?**_ She drawled sarcastically.

 _ **It is rather easy to get around his defenses if he trusts you.**_ Metagross began.

 _ **Speaking from experience?**_

Surprisingly, or not, he didn't rise to that particular taunt.

The Ninetales let out a verbal laugh. _**But I agree. He is rather easy to decipher, if one knows him well enough.**_

 _ **Like you?**_ Metagross accused.

 _ **Like me.**_ Aoi didn't even bat an eyelash at that statement. _**Nevertheless, our trainer has nothing to fear from me. He has done me no wrong. I wish as much harm on him as he does me.**_

 _ **You are not… normal.**_ Metagross accused. _**Your awareness feels like one of us, and yet you wield that which defiles us. I cannot comprehend the details of your existence.**_

 _ **Some questions aren't to be answered, merely to behold.**_ Aoi returned saucily.

 _ **Or simply monstrous and hidden beneath a veneer of civility.**_ The steel-type taunted.

Aoi didn't bother to reply back.

 _ **Trainer Ash…**_ The Metagross began, _**has the proclivity to gather the incomprehensible and the broken around him, and it happens way too much for my liking. The Gods did not recognize his potential, and now… a wielder of the Void does so.**_ He paused, staring at the Ninetales squarely in the eye. _**I will not permit the Void to drag my trainer into its corruption.**_

Personally, Aoi couldn't help but feel that should _He_ feel like, _He_ would do the very same, if only out of a whim to _annoy_ the steel behemoth. The _Fallen_ was thrown into the Void eons ago, and he rose up to become its true wielder. Truth be told, Aoi didn't know anyone stronger than him in all of existence.

He was an immortal. He got bored. It happens.

 _ **Feel free to do what you wish. I am not your nemesis, nor am I intending to cause any harm on my… our trainer. As for our mutual existences, do not steer into mine, and I will not steer into your own.**_

That was about as subtle as a sledgehammer, Aoi mused. Nevertheless, a sledgehammer was _also_ a tool for some reason. Then again, a physical hunk like Metagross would perhaps appreciate the comparison better than say… the psi pokémon.

Metagross, it seemed, didn't care about the threat, no more than he cared about the fact that he had just declared himself antagonistic to someone clearly affiliated with the _fallen._ _ **You do not battle for my trainer, and yet you accompany him at all times. What is it that you crave from his constant presence?**_

Aoi sighed. She would have called the steel type a rock-head, but then again, that position was taken by someone else on the team anyway, so she supposed she would have to stick with _steel-head_ instead. _**Can a girl not be simply possessive of her master?**_

 _ **You?**_ Metagross drawled.

The Ninetales let out another laugh, before she looked away. _**I do not feel it necessary to answer your question, as it is none of your business.**_

 _ **It is my business if it involves my trainer.**_ Metagross replied, his tone still persistent, not at all missing the slight glow in her tails. A not so subtle demonstration of power. Alien, horrifyingly powerful, unprecedented power.

A pair of thin crimson eyes cast a sideward glance at him. _**I have spent centuries, trapped inside the twisted ruins of my own curse, surrounded by raw otherworldly energies trying to corrupt me, and the infinite Distortion ensnaring my senses. Some like you, pseudo-legendary or not, will not break my resolve.**_

She stretched her legs, her nine tails creating a rather comfortable position for her to rest, as she coiled herself into the couch. For some reason, she didn't think she would get some shut eye if she tried to advance into her trainer's bed for the night. Not with the surprisingly persistent steel type being out in the room anyway.

* * *

The next morning, a somewhat flustered Ash found himself standing in front of a humongous gate made of wrought iron, looking beyond at the apparently ancient conurbation everyone knew as Lavender Town. Despite being on the periphery of two famous cities, namely Cerulean and Saffron, the jaded region of Lavender Town stood like an oddball, a region lost in time, with its stone-walls, cobbled streets, and tall, pointy rooftops, and an everlasting stench of desolation all around. For the more sensitive population, the town smelled _alien,_ with an odd… sensation in the air, the sudden chills on turning through a sharp corner, and the strangeness of the shadows.

A miniature biosphere for the ghost kind, and those who revelled in their presence.

And in the dead center of it all, a massive stone mansion, with seven towers spiralling out of it from the periphery, each having a large stone gargoyle carved out of single monoliths, and a large Haunter sculpted on the pointed top of the main roof, with its malicious eyes looking way too alive than it had any right to be. The home of the Ainsworth family, one of the oldest and most notorious families in Kanto.

The Ghost Tower.

 _ **If you are done gawking, could you please let me back into my pokeball? I'd rather not stay around in such a deluding and mentally-repressive environment.**_

Ash arched an eyebrow at Alakazam's demand. For some reason, his usual tone seemed to be overflowing with derision and outright scorn. On second thought, he shouldn't really be surprised considering where he was standing. Someone as sensitive as the psi was surely feeling the stench of the ghost-types in the very air all around them.

He hadn't wanted to delay his journey any longer, and had asked the psi, earlier in the morning, to teleport him all the way to the Ghost Tower of Lavender Town. Alakazam had, in his own colourful way, described how his services weren't available everywhere and that the maximum distance he would take him would be the outer gates of the Town, and not an inch ahead. Ash had agreed to the counter offer, content in whatever he got from it.

"Yeah, I'll just do that." He mumbled, raising his pokeball, returning the psi into the silent and considerably preferable confines of the device. He put it back into his poke-belt, before plucking out two other pokeballs, as he released the entities within them. In a matter of seconds, Aoi and Gengar manifested in front of him, the former letting out a long, enthusiastic yawn, stretching her limbs and neck out, while the latter giving out her usual grin, before said grin evaporated almost instantly, as the shadow pokémon realized where it was, that she was standing.

"Gen—Gar?" She asked.

"Yeah," Ash answered, not needing to ask Aoi to translate for him. "We are in Lavender Town."

An inscrutable expression flickered on Gengar's face for a moment, before she gazed back at Ash, giving him another one of her grins.

Her trainer frowned. "Do you… _not_ want to be here?" He paused, wondering if he had read her wrong from the very start. "I thought you'd have liked to come back over here."

Gengar just grinned back, before levitating herself a foot into the air, before indicating towards the direction of the Ghost Tower.

"You want to go there, right?" Ash asked, trying to confirm it.

"Gengar!" The shadow pokémon slowly drifted towards the Tower, as Ash began to walk loosely behind.

Ash glanced back at Ninetales, who looked like she thought it was too early to deal with stuff like that.

 _ **The shadow's perspective of relationships is warped. You won't comprehend them no matter how much you try.**_

Ash shook his head, knowing fully well that he inwardly agreed with the golden Ninetales, who walked into the town, right behind him.

* * *

Ash and Aoi trotted through the cobbled streets of the ancient town, with a levitating Gengar in front of him leading the way, not that they needed it, considering that the Ghost Tower was easily the largest and tallest building in all of Lavender Town, and with the entire housing built in the forms of squares, the way was easily identifiable. The more they walked, the more it became obvious to Ash why Scott, the man he had met back on that island, had told him that the Forest of Illusions was similar to Lavender Town, only much more deadly. So far, he had already spotted several ghost types- most of them being the usual Gastly, and the less commonly found Duskull and Misdreavus levitating, often in presence of people—whom Ash ascertained were their trainers, or simply basking in the shadows.

Truly this town was an ecological niche for the ghost-kind.

After walking for another half an hour, he found himself standing in front of another humongous gate, carved out of wrought iron, obstructing his path into the giant mansion that lay beyond it. For some reason, Gengar had stopped a few inches away from the gate, staring at the great mansion that had once been her own home.

"Is there a problem?" Ash asked, looking at Gengar, whose large, convex eyes seemed transfixed on the wrought iron barrier separating them from the mansion.

Gengar didn't reply back.

Unsure about what it meant, Ash took a step forward, as his fingers came inches close to the slightly rusted surfaces, before a sharp, high-pitched voice stopped him in his tracks.

"The Ghost Tower doesn't accommodate trespassers very well."

It was a girl, a little girl that looked around ten, with jet black, braided hair, with two twin tails on either side, dressed in white. She wore a red brooch like ornament on her neck, Ash observed, as the girl approached him from the inside.

"Who are you?" Came the direct, no-nonsense question.

"I'm… Ash. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"How can the Tower waste its time on you?" Came the derisive question, dripping with condescension.

Aoi narrowed her eyes but said nothing. Ash on the other hand, seemed irritated at her behaviour.

"I'm here to meet the Elite Four Agatha. Professor Samuel Oak has sent me here."

Apparently, the little girl recognized the name, judging by her now squinted eyes. "You seem to be telling the truth, so I will let you pass."

"Thank you." Ash tried as hard as possible not to scoff.

He took a step forward, as his fingers-

"Wait!" the girl screeched.

 _Oh what now?_ Ash looked back at the little annoyance with expectation.

"Only humans and ghosts are allowed in." The girl replied in a half-mocking tone. "It's Lady Agatha's command." She paused for a moment. "Though… pokémon that are immune to the effects of the ghostly energy are also allowed in, unless they are the dark ones."

"Why?"

The girl's lips twisted. "The ambience here is too dangerous for them."

Almost automatically, Ash turned towards Aoi.

 _ **You know better than having to ask that question. I spent eons in presence of ghosts. The ambience does not affect me.**_

Ash considered it. To his knowledge, only the normal-types were immune to ghosts, and that narrowed his team to just Pidgeot. However, there was no point in keeping Pidgeot trapped inside her pokeball when she could spread her wings and fly in the open should she be at the Ranch. Making a quick decision, he switched on the Xtransceiver.

* * *

The steps to the mansion were roughly a quarter mile away from the main gates. Ash had sent back all of his pokémon, save Aoi and the ghosts, which effectively meant only Gengar, since neither of the other two could be trusted at this point. Gengar still levitated in front of him, though she was slightly subdued for some reason, while Aoi seemed to unconsciously stick closer to Ash, her golden fur rubbing against his jeans, as the two walked up to the doors above the steps. The little annoyance had deserted them at the gates, sprinting away in another direction, possibly to harass somebody else for all he knew.

On closer look, even the architecture looked dated. There was an old fashioned metal chain hanging from the left, which apparently functioned as the door bell, considering the rather loud sound that reverberated as soon as Ash pulled it downwards.

Five seconds passed by. No one answered.

Ten seconds.

Still no one answered.

Fifteen. Ash raised his hand to pull the chain a second time, when the door hissed open, as he found himself looking at the familiar face of the revenant crone of Kanto—the Ghost Mistress of the Elite Four.

"Elite Four Agatha." He croaked.

"It is Agatha and nothing else." The old woman replied, her sharp eyes jumping from Ash to the floating shadow pokémon beside him. For some reason, the shadow pokémon felt extremely familiar, and judging by the manner it was shying its eyes away, Agatha knew that it was not a coincidence. She knew this Gengar. It was only a time before her memories spotted it out.

"My name is Ash. I-"

"Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I have heard quite many mentions of your name." Agatha replied in a half-sardonic tone. "Then again, they are not... undeserved."

Ash felt a tinge of embarrassment. He had certainly not expected to be remembered by an Elite Four for one. "Professor Oak sent me here." He replied, oblivious to her inner thoughts. "I need some aid with a certain ghost pokémon and he suggested you."

"So, the legendary Oak has finally gotten his hands on something to bother remembering me. I will see what I can-" She stopped midway, as it suddenly hit her. The reason why this Gengar looked so, _so very familiar,_ and why it—she was behaving so… conspicuously in her presence. It took a moment, but her eyes widened, and her hold on her walking staff tightened almost instantly.

Then, she turned towards Ash, almost as if it pained her to leave the Gengar out of her direct sight.

"I must ask, young man… just where and how did you gain the acquaintance of my father's pokémon?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile in Fuchsia.**

"He challenged the Battle Tower?" Steven stared at Cynthia's frame, his expression one of incomprehension. "Why would anyone in the right mind-?"

"This is Ash." Cynthia returned, her face twisted in a frown, as she regarded Steven's face on the other end of the Pokenav. "You should know by now how thin the line is between irrationality and dedication when it comes to him?"

Steven sighed. "And pray tell, who was it that put this brilliant idea into his brain?"

Cynthia gave him a meaningful look. "Samuel Oak."

 _Oh._

…

 _OH._

"I presume you have seen the results?" Cynthia asked. "He didn't call me last night, so I assumed things didn't exactly go all flowery."

"Always the optimistic one, aren't you? " Steven returned derisively.

"What can I say? Your Champion won't leave him be on his own." Cynthia retorted dryly.

"Possessive…" The silver-haired man drawled.

"Shut up. Care to tell me what the results are?"

Steven sighed. "And here I thought I held a position of respect." He paused. "Hang on a moment. Let me check." He lifted up the laptop screen, accessing the league database. Any and all contributions from the Battle Tower were recorded in the League database within twenty minutes after said event had concluded. "Let's see… Ash Ketchum. Inter-" He paused, before rereading it again.

"What is it?" Cynthia asked impatiently, not for the first time hating the fact that she didn't have access to the Indigo league database.

"Intermediate trainer. Level 2."

"Come again."

"Intermediate trainer. Level 2." Steven replied, still surprised. "Damn. The kid must have improved by leaps and bounds if this is his present evaluation."

"He's not a kid." Cynthia returned stubbornly.

"Right. Boyfriend and everything. I totally understand."

"It's not just that." Despite what it might appear, Cynthia was _certainly_ _not_ blushing. "He's been through too much to be one."

"And just like that, you had to deflate the mood." The former Champion complained. "But I agree."

"Intermediate trainer, level is that? Six badges?"

"Seven." Steven corrected. "Considering he still has five gym badges to acquire, he should be facing hellish difficulty defeating the gym leaders."

"All the better." The Sinnoh champion retorted. "He needs all the experience he can get."

"I'm almost surprised you didn't join him on his journey."

Cynthia flipped her hair. "Champion here, remember?"

"Yes, yes. Remind me of my shortcomings again, why don't you." Steven complained.

"Stop being a baby." Cynthia chided. "If you want it back that much, go and challenge the Kanto Elite Four. Or better, go defeat Wallace at home."

Steven whistled. "Nah... Hoenn is the silent type. Kanto is much more exciting at the moment. And you know I'd stand no chance against Agatha."

It was the unspoken truth about the Kanto Elite. Lance had ruled Kanto unchallenged for over a decade because of one single reason only.

Nobody ever got a victory out of Agatha, the last stand of the Elite Four. And unless you beat the Elite Four, you didn't get a chance to battle Lance Wataru. There was a reason after all, why Lance always deferred to Agatha when she had an opinion to state, though such a situation was a rarity.

Cynthia didn't comment on that. Instead she returned to their original point of discussion. "If Ash is already that good, then I can only imagine his progress by the time the Indigo Conference is over. I cannot wait to get him here, and-"

"Have your wicked way with him?" Steven wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

"Pervert." Cynthia muttered. "I intend to take him in as an official apprentice after that. He'll be the one that defeats me and take my place as Champion."

"I'm surprised you haven't started picking names for your future offspring as well."

"Shut up."

* * *

 **Back in Lavender Town.**

"Your father's… pokémon?" Ash swallowed, trying to digest what he had just learnt. "Your father…"

"Ethan Ainsworth." Agatha pronounced. "My father set sail off the coast of Cerulean… and then never came home again. We thought something… might sinister might have befallen him, but there was no news."

Ash was sitting in the main hall, on a rather old-fashioned wooden couch, opposite the fire place, with Agatha sitting on a wooden rocking chair, her face getting illuminated on and off from the light of the fireplace. Despite it still being morning, the amount of sunlight entering into the mansion was feeble at best.

"I heard about what happened to him from a man back there, on the island, though it seems more like a fictitious incident than what might really have happened. I…" he paused, unsure how to put it, "I have never really questioned Gengar in that particular subject."

He cast a sideways glance at the door. After entering through the main door with Agatha, Gengar had dissipated inside the shadows lining the corridors, while he had followed Agatha into the hall, where they were sitting now. He hadn't seen Gengar reappear back ever since.

"Don't bother. I already know what happened to my father. My brothers and sisters have already questioned her for details. They are, after all, her own kin. The Ghost Tower is not just home to Gengar's first master, but also home for her own kin."

Ash didn't know what he should feel about that. Nevertheless, the odd suffocating feeling in the back of his throat wasn't something he enjoyed. At least Aoi… he glanced at the Ninetales who lay draped over his lap, her eyes closed, though Ash could tell that she was paying absolute attention to every single word of the ongoing conversation. He wasn't the most intelligent being out there, but he was less oblivious than people assumed him to be.

"I… understand." He tried.

"You don't." Agatha accused sharply, staring at him with her sharp hawk-like eyes. On closer look, one of her eyes seemed dead, cold—a prosthetic at best to maintain her facial outlook. Her face softened soon after. "And for your own good, I hope you never do."

Ash didn't know what to make of that statement.

"Will… Gengar?" Ash felt the words die down his throat. He didn't want to acknowledge it, not after everything he had been through. Not after… "Will Gengar… stay here?"

Agatha shrugged. "It is not my decision. It is hers." She stared at him with a curious expression. "Surely you do not want to lose a powerful pokémon? Gengar are the apex of ghost types out there."

"There are many ghost types, and should I want it, I can always defeat and capture another Gastly or Haunter. Gengar's decision to stay here has nothing to do with my own betterment as a trainer."

Agatha arched an eyebrow. "You are allowing her to take her own choice?"

Ash shrugged, despite not wanting to do so. It hurt to accept it, but that made it no less true. "Gengar joined me on her own accord. I will not stop her should she… decide to leave."

"Because you can always catch another Gastly?" Agatha taunted.

"Because she has her own choices, and I respect that." Ash answered, his voice slightly edgy.

"Interesting." The old crone pushed back into her chair. "You are an unusual trainer, Ash Ketchum."

The teen didn't understand if he had just been complimented or insulted.

"It was a compliment." Agatha replied, as if reading his mind. "Most trainers are more… shall we say, pragmatic about pokémon?"

"Pragmatic?"

"They consider them as tools, and… pets, if you want a better term. Those which they can easily trade when a better opportunity comes walking."

"My team is my family. I do not trade family."

A cruel, sinister look flickered on the old woman's face. "Interesting. Very interesting." She reclined back again. "So tell me, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town… what can Agatha Ainsworth do for you?"

 _To the point then._ Ash decided. "As I mentioned… I encountered Gengar in the forest of Illusions back in the Mirage archipelago. I… also encountered a Team Rocket Executive over there, who had come in with a huge team of Umbreon, and some more… powerful pokémon to capture the ghosts of the forest."

The chair stopped rocking.

"Initially, my Absol was battling Gengar with my life at the table. Then, the Rockets attacked with hordes of Umbreon. I…. well, my team and I tried our best to fight back against the Rocket executive and the grunts. Gengar, and the other ghosts also battled them."

The old crone arched an eyebrow again. "Wouldn't it have been better to take advantage of the situation and escape the forest?" She paused, staring at Ash, as if judging him. "An enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all."

Ash considered her words. "The forest belonged to the ghosts. I was told about them in advance, about how it is their territory. Getting my life at risk was a given. That doesn't make the ghosts my enemy."

Agatha continued to stare.

"Anyway," Ash went on speaking, looking anywhere but at her. "The Executive had a Magmortar and a Dusclops. During the battle… the Magmortar died."

"You ordered your pokémon to kill it?"

"No!" Ash retorted defensively. "Instead, it would have killed us all—me, my team, the ghosts, everyone had it succeeded in what it was doing. It was only because Alakazam reflected the entire thing back on him that he—well, he died."

"I see." The ghost mistress replied slowly. Truth be told, she had already gotten the complete _experience_ of what might have permeated within the forest back then. However, she simply wanted to see how this… unusual young man's thought process was like, especially considering that he was currently holding the allegiance of her father's starter, not a minor feat by any standards.

"Gengar and the two Haunter were about to kill the Dusclops too, so I… captured it before that could happen. The Executive was gone before that happened."

Indeed he had done that. Agatha knew it well. All the while being under the curse of a powerful ghost, a condition that would have sucked the life out of him in the next couple of minutes, Ash Ketchum had decided that saving the life of the other ghost was a matter of higher priority.

"And?"

"Well… the Dusclops… she's strange."

"Most ghosts are." Agatha scoffed. "To those who cannot comprehend them anyway."

"Not that." Ash countered. "She's… she follows my commands—formal commands anyway. And yet, well, she's got this… murderous streak in her. Nearly killed my Mag- Charmeleon when I put them for a mock battle. She doesn't talk or do anything, just stands still, and always looking forward to-"

"Murder someone." Agatha finished for him. "Release that ghost here."

"Excuse me?" Ash narrowed his eyes.

"Release her here." Agatha repeated without delay. "I wish to see this… mockery, with my own eyes."

"Uh… sure." There was no way he'd know better than the greatest Ghost Mistress of the era after all. Without delay, he pulled out the ultra-ball that held the murderous beacon pokémon inside it, releasing her out in the open.

"Clops!" the beacon pokémon drawled smoothly, her tone way too calming, a rather contradictory thing considering her behaviour. Not for the first time, Ash registered just how larger the Dusclops was, compared to the normal size. Dusclops in general, were quite large, larger than a Gengar, and their evolved counterpart Dusknoir were much larger, getting a height post eight feet. This Dusclops though, was already a little more than six feet. It was only a point of wonder just how _massive_ she would be post-evolution.

Almost immediately, dense fumes emerged out from the floor, or more precisely, from Agatha's shadow, reforming into a Gengar, larger than anything Ash had ever set sight on. It was easily six feet in height, its eyes and its infamous grin giving off an ominous feel, even though the Gengar wasn't even staring at Ash in the first place. He shuddered, feeling the sudden fall in temperature as Gengar slowly levitated right in front of Dusclops.

And then shit hit the fan.

Two shadowy projections of her hands shot out from Dusclops's body, gripping the Gengar, banishing him into the wall on the opposite side, pinning him there, as Dusclops slowly rose in the air towards her prey. Almost instinctively, Ash began to rise up to take action, if not for the hand gesture from Agatha, asking him to relax, telling him that everything was under control. Despite his own hesitation, he pushed himself back into the chair.

Aoi didn't even move during the entire interaction.

Dusclops pressed herself against the Gengar, her monochromatic eye glowing menacingly. Despite his distance, Ash had an unsavoury feeling that he could _hear_ Dusclops breathing heavily. He decided he didn't like the sensation that accompanied it.

And then she opened her mouth, lifting the top part of the mummified carapace that was its body armour, coming closer and closer to Gengar.

Ash felt his knuckles turn white. It was almost nostalgic, only he had seen Magnus instead of Gengar back then. _Please…._ He glanced at Agatha's look of complete apathy. _Please do something._

And then everything changed.

Gengar suddenly _dispersed_ itself into dense fumes, before completely enveloping Dusclops completely, a part of said fumes even pouring down into Dusclops's oral cavity. Then, the fumes began to glow with a sinistrous purple color.

And then, Dusclops _screamed._

* * *

Agatha silently stared at the murderous ghost wishing to prey upon her _brother._ Of course, there was nothing to worry about it in the first place. Living with ghosts made one jaded towards such things. After all, in their primal forms, a ghost was a true and utter psychopath, revelling in the fear and pain of the others. The level of ruthlessness she had seen _ghosts_ display in her long life was more than enough for dark types to burn with envy. However, that didn't mean she was completely unfazed by the murderous specimen that the kid—that _Ash Ketchum_ had presented before her.

Dusclops. A ghost that was, in true sense of the term, a conceptualization of _nothingness._ There was nothing, absolutely nothing inside the ghost, and yet it was not Distortion and yet not vacuum. Ghosts weren't the souls of the dead as most people believed, and were mostly, a form of interdimensional travellers, composed nearly entirely of Chaos. While Agatha couldn't boast herself as more knowledgeable about ghost-kind than themselves, she was definitely someone on the immediate next rank. According to her not-so-humble opinion, a Dusclops was merely a container of _nothingness,_ given sentience through the wild energies of Chaos. Being born in a world with only traces of chaos energy, a Duskull was reduced into a lowly poltergeist of sorts, taking amusement and nourishment out of human fear. After its evolution into a Dusclops, that amusement reshaped itself into an ever-lasting hunger, though more than often than not, a Dusclops was able to tame on this… primal form of itself, rendering itself _somewhat tameable,_ and used as a pokémon for pointless battling.

This Dusclops however, was different.

Twisted.

It was almost like someone- possibly a result of nefarious experimentation made by those who didn't know any better, had outright ripped away any and all shreds of _self-restraint_ from Dusclops's constitution, and Agatha got a feeling that it wasn't merely psychic or psychosomatic, but genetic. Someone had raised a Duskull devoid of any self-restraint, and forced evolution on it. The entity that stood floating before her Gengar was not a Dusclops, but a pale shade of it- one that contained the unbridled primal form that was forcibly self-repressed by all ghost-kind, lest the world be consumed in their _amusement and greed._

 _And then people have the gall to speak ill of the otherworldly ones._ Agatha mused with a frown.

She considered the murderous entity once again.

She didn't like what was going to happen. But it was necessary.

Her left eye, the one that _always_ stayed dead and unmoving, _glimmered_ before returning back to its usual state, as a single thought flitted through her mind's eye.

 _Miasma._

Almost instantly, Gengar dissolved into dense fumes, pouring into Dusclops's oral cavity, enveloping the beacon pokémon completely, as its foreign ghostly energy burned Dusclops from the inside and the outside.

 _Venoshock._

The fumes began to glow with an ominous purple color, as Gengar, still in his half-vapour form, leaked out the deadly poison that was part of its own physical constitution. Though in hindsight, _venom_ would be a better description than _poison,_ since the poison's effects were only _amplified_ when used in combination with raw, undiluted ghostly energy.

 _End it. Explosion._

Dusclops screamed with mind-boggling agony, as the poisonous ghostly energy seeped into every single part of her form, before she felt a sudden build of pressure within herself.

For the first time in her life, Dusclops _knew_ fear.

Seconds later, a completely silent and horrified Ash Ketchum returned the Dusclops, with half of her body in fumes and the other half, literally unmoving, as the dense purple fumes reformed back into Gengar without so much as a sound.

Gengar grinned.

* * *

 **AN: A short chapter, I know, but this was the only position to put a pause before the next part began. Hope you like what I did with Agatha and Aoi and well… the entire ghost-lore. More ghost-lore coming right up in the next chapter.**

 **Also, a shout-out to Third Fang, author of 'From fake dreams', which is perhaps** _ **the**_ **legendary fanfiction on the Fate universe. If you are reading this, you know where I took inspiration for a particular character. Also, please upload, man.**

 **Also, over 1k follows! Damn, I am really flattered, considering that is Pokémon fandom we are talking about. I am really happy that my story is getting such a positive response from my readers. If you liked the chapter, please put up a review. Thanks a lot.**


	30. Revaluation

Ash stood transfixed on the spot, half of him on the brink of losing it, considering that Dusclops as about to openly murder the Gengar of an Elite Four. The other half of him was horrified beyond comprehension with the _ease_ with which the Gengar had used that… that vapour-like state to penetrate into Dusclops, following a powerful Explosion. Not only that, the purplish fumes had conglomerated back into a _grinning_ Gengar, almost as if the explosion hadn't hurt it at all in the first place. Where initially there stood a murderous Dusclops, now lay _half of her,_ with most of her upper extremities dispersed into ghostly energies that were slowly trying to condense back into the physical form. For a moment, Ash _feared_ that the ghost pokémon was-

"She's not dead." Agatha explained, as if she had heard his thoughts. Then, realizing the pun in the statement, she corrected it. "Well, not that ghosts can die, anyway. She's just… incapacitated beyond comprehension."

If she had meant those words to be some sort of consolation, she had failed dismally. As it was, the pale visage of the teenager remained as it was.

"Dusclops will heal back to how she was, as will her unfortunate disposition to murder anything that moves." Agatha replied with a frown. "Please put her back into her pokeball."

Without hesitation, Ash did the same, the red light sucking in the semi-condensed form of the murderous ghost. Then, he turned and subconsciously took a step back, meeting the inscrutable stare that the Elite Four Ghost-mistress was giving him.

Ash felt his throat go dry, as he tried to bring what he felt into actual words. "Is she…?"

After several seconds, Agatha spoke. "Your Dusclops needs work. A lot of work. I would advise you to let her stay here for the foreseeable future. In time, when her primal nature is repressed down to proper standards, you can have her back."

"How long?"

The old crone seemed to consider it. "Give or take a couple of months at the very least, I would say. It all depends upon the degree of damage done to her. A good thing that she is a ghost type, and not something else."

Ash didn't want to ask it, but he couldn't stop his curiosity from getting the better of it. "Why… would you say that?"

Agatha pursed her lips. "Most types would simply give up living than face the pain." A grim, cruel smirk floated on her lips. "Being an interdimensional traveller can be a curse, more often than not. It is a pity most people do not comprehend that."

Ash tried his best, but could decipher nothing by what she meant by that cryptic statement.

"My brothers and sisters tell me that you are in possession of a third ghost as well." She paused. "A significant achievement, taking your experience and age."

Ash chuckled mirthlessly. "A Trevenant, and the only one I caught. Gengar joined me on her own accord, and Dusclops… was a special case."

"And modest too?" Agatha teased. "Perhaps I should just hand over the title of Elite Four to you right away."

Ash felt his ears turn red with embarrassment. Elite Four? He had been enough times on the receiving end of Cynthia's attacks to understand just how frighteningly powerful the Elite Four could be. Being the Champion was simply the next level up.

"And something tells me that Dusclops is not the end of your problems."

Ash felt a tad embarrassed. "It doesn't seem I'm good enough of a trainer to control ghost pokémon right now. I can work with Gengar because she wilfully accepts my commands. Trevenant… has his own issues, though progress has been made."

"How much?"

"… Some." Ash confessed. "I was hoping if I could get some tutelage regarding how to train ghosts the correct way. Someone made me understand that training a ghost is unlike anything else."

"A mature person, I am sure." Agatha exclaimed, to which Ash nodded agreeably. Cynthia was the Champion of Sinnoh for a reason after all. She gave him a scrutinizing stare. "And you just expected to waltz in here and demand tutelage from an Elite Four?"

Ash took a step back. "Not… quite. I was hoping to get some tutelage in understanding what I am doing wrong with Trevenant and Dusclops. Professor Oak said that you are the foremost authority when it comes to ghost-types."

"And now you try to flatter me." Agatha returned with a voice dripping with condescension. "Very well. Not sure about the learning part, but I will attempt to remove some of the false assumptions that keep you from comprehending what ghosts are. Your reaction to my Gengar using Explosion tells me that you suffer from quite several of them."

Ash didn't even try to come up with an answer.

Agatha inspected the boy lazily from his head to his shoes, before casting a casual glance at the deceptively calm Ninetales standing by his side. "Very well. You brought me my lost kin, and salvaged an old wound by giving me answers to the mystery of my father's disappearance. You have also brought in suitable information in regarding to the security of Kanto, and that is not counting your efforts to aid the League back on the cruise. I suppose… in the light of those events, I can… afford to grant you some tutelage." She paused for a second, as her tone sharpened, "though be advised, I am not enthused by slackers. Should I deem you unsatisfactory, you will be leaving my sanctorum, no strings attached. Is that clear?"

Ash swallowed, before nodding his head.

Agatha, it seemed, was far from done. "I should inform you that the ancestral home of the Ainsworth name is a haven to ghost-kind. They hold greater right to be on these lands than either you or me, so be sure not to forget this distinction. They are the residents, and you, a trespasser granted temporary asylum."

Ash bobbed his head again.

"This manor is home to several locked doors and chambers, and they are locked for a reason. You will not try to open them. By any chance, should you _ever,_ find yourself standing in a room filled with large mirrors, you will, without delay, _run_ out of the chamber, if you want to save yourself from a gruesome death. The Tower is also connected to the entrance of a graveyard, so should you ever… find _fresh, wet grass_ beneath your feet, _you will not move,_ and instead, yell loudly for me. Lastly, there are no humans inside this entire mansion save myself and now… yourself as well, so in case you ever meet another human inside this house, do not do anything they ask you to do. If you abide by these rules, then I can assure you, you will _leave_ this mansion, _healthy_ , and knowledgeable about the otherworldly ones."

Ash swallowed.

* * *

 **Meanwhile in Hearthome city, Sinnoh.**

The entire arena seemed absolutely flooded with flash lights all around. The grand arena boasted of a Bermuda-grass pitch, covering an area of two thousand square feet, with a gallery holding a housing capacity of two thousand, and by the looks of it, the place was overwhelmed with spectators, who had, despite not getting seats, chosen to stand against the archways if only to get a chance to spectate the grand event that was to be this oncoming match. The final and last attempt at beating the current Sinnoh Champion off her champion status.

"All right, battle fans. It's time!" The MC yelled over the megaphone, his voice almost hoarse with the constant commentary over the last few days. "The battle we have all been waiting for, is finally here. On the red end, we have the defending Champion Cynthia, who shall be defending her status as Sinnoh Champion. Will she be able to maintain her hold? Or will Lucian, Psychic Master and Elite Four, claim the throne for himself?"

Cynthia stood in her impeccable black robes, staring calmly at the figure of Lucian, the new winner amongst the Elite Four, and the competing trainers over the series of events that had happened over the last months, and finally was in, to challenge the Champion herself. Should Lucian be able to defeat her, her Champion status would be provoked, and she would remain as an Elite-level trainer. However, if she managed to defend it against Lucian and his team of psychics, her position as Champion would be solidified for a year, and more importantly, the Elite Four and the Ace Squad would rightfully accept her as their new leader.

And between her and that outcome, was a single match. A three on three battle, between herself and Lucian.

 _And I will shut all mouths, and prove myself._

She cast a casual glance at the top tier of the gallery. Even from this distance, she could see several of the Elite from other regions standing beyond the glass wall, staring into the battleground beneath them. She knew for a fact that Lance and Steven from Kanto, Wallace, the Champion of Hoenn, Lorelei—Kanto Elite Four, and Diantha, the Champion of Kalos were present there, to name a few. All of them were standing there, some with ulterior motives in mind, some for support and some like Steven, for pure entertainment.

"And the challenger, Lucian of the Elite Four, will be choosing first." The MC announced. "This will be a three on three battle, with no carry-overs, no substitutions."

Lucian, a crimson-haired man, with matching sunglasses, wearing flamboyant robes and a half-arrogant grin on his face, lifted up his first ultraball- before holding it up in Cynthia's direction. "Bronzong, I choose you."

 _Why am I not surprised?_ Cynthia mentally drawled. That Bronzong, in question, was Lucian's signature pokémon, much akin to how Garchomp was for herself. For ninety percent of his formal battles, Lucian always allowed Bronzong to deal with his opponents. The steel/psychic type, was his sweeper, his front-line assault, a pokémon powerful enough to deal overwhelming damage to most opponents down the line. It was indeed, a rare occasion, when Bronzong took significant damage, or worse, had fainted mid-battle, only to be substituted with the next in line.

 _If not for his battle against Flint, I'd have thought Bronzong was his most powerful._

"Are you ready to truly face the wrath of an Elite four, girl?" Lucian taunted.

Cynthia rolled her eyes. Apparently, the psychic master had forgotten that to become a Champion in the first place, one _had_ to defeat _all_ of the Elite four, and _then_ the reigning Champion. Then again, that was over four months ago, and Lucian would probably have some new aces up his sleeve.

She lifted up her pokeball. "I choose you, Garchomp!"

With an earth-shattering roar, Garchomp slammed his feet onto the ground, materializing out of the ultraball he was kept in.

"And Cynthia has chosen her Garchomp to battle against Lucian and his Bronzong. Who will win?" The MC continued.

"Bronzong has a dual advantage against your Garchomp. Is this your magnanimity or have you already accepted defeat?"

 _Nah, I just decided that even when against the tide, my pokémon can wipe the floor with yours._ Cynthia didn't say.

Lucian had been, not that she needed any reminding, one of the most vocal in opposition to her status as Champion after she had defeated the previous Champion. Ironic, considering that Lucian had been the Elite that she had defeated most soundly back during her working through the Elite circuit.

"Let the Battle begin!" The referee announced from his safe position. After all, only an idiot would prefer to stay in the middle of a battle waged between two monstrosities. And considering that the pokémon battling were both _elite-level,_ 'monstrosity' was one way of defining them.

Lucian raised his right arm. "Flash Cannon!"

Bronzong raised itself upward, before revealing its hollow bottom, which seemed to get saturated with blinding, white light, before propelling the energy out as a concentrated, wide-area beam toward the dragon.

Cynthia's expressions didn't betray her inner thoughts. "Fly up and use flamethrower."

Garchomp _roared,_ before leaping off the ground, and sending out torrential flames towards Bronzong. The powerful Flash Cannon missed its target as it passed underneath towards the periphery.

Lucian smirked. "Relocate."

Bronzong let out a mechanical noise, as a bluish aura outlined the powerful steel-type attack, literally deviating it from its path, incrementing it to unbelievable speeds, as it shot towards the dragon. Meanwhile, Bronzong simply teleported from its location, avoiding the flamethrower attack by a significant distance.

Garchomp leapt to his right, and the flash cannon followed, making the dragon leaping and flying all around the arena, with the powerful steel-type attack right behind him.

"Looks like Bronzong has Garchomp dancing to its tune." The MC went on.

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. It seemed like this _relocate_ had locked the flash cannon attack on Garchomp. "Garchomp, show Bronzong what super speed is like."

And Garchomp vanished.

"And it looks like Garchomp has somehow teleported. Is that even possible?" The MC asked no one in particular.

Even the relocated attack had been too overwhelmed, and had crashed

"Not possible." Lucian muttered under his breath. "So then where is it?"

Almost as if in answer to his question, several illusory versions of Garchomp appeared all around the arena, all of them surrounding Bronzong, the scythe-like protrusions on their arms glowing with draconic power.

 _Sense the dragon._ Lucian commanded. _And relocate confuse ray._ He mentally smirked. Bronzong was notoriously mechanical in their dealings. Just like a supercomputer, they followed every single command to the Tee and executed it without an error percentage less than three places of decimal.

So obviously, Lucian was completely blown out of his mind, when he saw Bronzong form a powerful confuse ray attack, before dispersing it into twelve separate fragments, firing them successively.

 _Why did you do that?_

 _ **Bronzong fired at the dragon, as master ordered.**_ Came the mechanical voice in his mind.

 _What the-?_

"Checkmate." Cynthia's clear voice was heard from the other side of the battleground, as the apparently-illusory forms of Garchomp, none of them even _registering_ the effect of the much-weakened Confuse ray, delivered successive dragon-claw attacks on Bronzong, who was thrown off from his position, tumbling, bruising his way through the grassy floor.

"Flamethrower." Cynthia calmly ordered.

"Gaaah!" The several _illusory_ forms of the dragon roared, before throwing in a frightening amount of scorching flames from their maw, all of them converging into Bronzong, causing an explosion, proving that all of them were in fact, _original flames,_ and not mere illusions.

"But…. How?" Lucian almost stammered. "They were illusions. They _have_ to be."

"If you say so." Cynthia mused, as the apparent _non-illusions_ faded, revealing a single Garchomp, standing in the middle of the arena, looking downright formidable and menacing. "Use fire blast."

"Chomp!" The great dragon summoned its inner flame to a superlative degree, before throwing a formidable fire blast, head-on towards the fallen Bronzong, who looked already exhausted.

 _Light screen._ Lucian commanded hurriedly, as Bronzong created a light screen in front of itself, as the wall of fire slammed into it. Just like with light screen, it reduced the attack power by at least fifty percent, which in case of someone like Bronzong, became a little more than ninety percent.

"Incinerate. Don't let it get control."

And Garchomp did the same. With the efficiency and control that would send any self-respecting fire-type into a massive inferiority-complex, Garchomp kept on throwing in a continuous shower of never-ending torrential flames, right ahead on the light screen, which served its purpose perfectly.

"Your flames will not burn my Bronzong." Lucian returned.

Cynthia smirked. Of course, Lucian was right. Light screen was a perfect counter to a special attack like Incinerate, and there was a little more than zero chance that it would _burn_ someone as powerful as Bronzong. But that didn't take into account the other part of the equation.

"Who said anything about burning it?" Cynthia asked.

And sure it was. Bronzong was safe from the scorching flames, courtesy to the powerful light screen. But as powerful as the psychic defense was, it lacked certain _fundamental_ attributes.

Like the attribute of protection against raw, overwhelming heat.

Not a good thing for a pokémon with part-psychic typing.

A thin smile twisted its way through her lips. "Sunny day."

And overwhelming sunlight descended into the stadium, increasing the power behind the Incinerate attack by another overwhelming fifty percent, enough to literally _melt_ its way through the defenses.

"Enough!" Lucian bellowed. "Use payback, and return with solar beam!"

It was a testament to Bronzong's incomprehensible innate strength that the bronze bell-pokémon was able to use Payback, doubling the remnants of his declining power reserves to form a powerful hyper beam, aiming it straight at Garchomp, who was currently using incinerate on him. The effects of Sunny day only hastened the process.

"Use substitute, and finish it." Cynthia calmly ordered.

The solar beam came in, and smashed into a life-sized illusionary decoy created by Garchomp, created at the cost of his own power, as the real dragon vanished again, only to appear right behind Bronzong at incomprehensible speed, before spearing the two blades into the steel-type from behind.

"Solo meteor." Cynthia calmly muttered, as Garchomp literally belched out an orange blob onto Bronzong, covering it with a bright, sticky orange semi-solid, before throwing it high up into the air.

"What was-?" Lucian's words remained behind inside his throat, as Bronzong _exploded_ alongside the orange substance, as smaller Draco meteors began to fall down to the ground, one of them being the form of a smoking, and completely unconscious and broken Bronzong.

"Bronzong is unable to battle." The commentator announced. "Garchomp wins the battle. First point to Cynthia."

The crowd cheered madly.

 _One down. Two to go._

* * *

 **Back at the Ghost Tower.**

Ash found himself standing in the middle of a desolate room, with nothing more than a single bed, a wooden rocking chair, with four dimly glowing lanterns placed on four corners of the room, emanating soft light. Apparently, the ambient otherworldly energy pervading the castle had a negative interference with electricity, and thus, despite the changes in the world outside, the residents of the Ghost Tower—the number now reduced to one, simply lived without it. Then again, with the ghosts saturating the castle, the entire atmosphere gave a slight chill. There was no breeze, just some filtered sunlight through the window panes, and the light chill, whose source could be deduced by any self-respecting trainer.

Gengar.

He glanced on the bed, upon which the golden Ninetales had already claimed a large area for herself, and was now stretching her limbs, as she coiled herself for a long, relaxing sleep.

 _At least someone is comfortable._

 _ **Don't get jealous.**_ Aoi mocked back.

"I expect everything is up to your standards?"

Ash spun around, facing the reverent crone who was standing right behind him. A part of his mind couldn't help but wonder _how_ the old crone had managed to walk her way without making a single sound—the exhaustingly creaking stairs came to mind. There was no way she could possibly have-

"I am called many things. Telepathic is not one of them."

The sudden snarky comment threw Ash off his mental tangents. "I'm… sorry. What were you saying again?"

Agatha gave an irritated sigh. "Is everything up to your standards?"

Now Ash might be a teenager, albeit one more impressionable than most. But that didn't mean he was oblivious to a trick question when it hit him in the face.

"Uh… yes. Thank you."

The old crone cackled. "Humility. How boring." She looked squarely at his face, her left eye glinting in the soft light in the room. "I have requested the ghosts to spare you, should you not goout, _looking_ for them."

Ash gave her a confused stare.

Agatha cackled. "What do they teach in school these days? Tell me boy… do you even understand _why_ the ghosts at the forest attacked you so viciously? Despite what… it might seem to you, people do get in and get out of the forest, with a captured ghost under their belt."

The apprehensive stare continued.

" _Fear for life,_ boy, or rather, _the lack of it_ on your part." The ghost mistress explained, her tone hinting condescension. "For some reason, you seem to have trace to no amounts of fear for your own life—you have a fear of loss, fear of getting hurt, fear of losing someone, fear of defeat, fear of… but yet, you seem to lack the fear of losing your own life."

Ash didn't know whether to feel insulted or complimented.

"A ghost is a devourer of _mortal fear,_ and thus, would not only be… apprehensive about you, but also… vengeful, to an extent, since you embody something that mocks their entire existence."

"My lack of fear about my own life?"

Agatha's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a smile. "Yes." She glanced at the sunlight filtering through the window sill. "From what my brothers and sisters tell me, Gengar and her compatriots waited for a long, long time, hoping that the ambience would be enough to instil fear in your heart. They only made an attempt upon your life when that expectation crumbled down to nothingness, especially after your victory over the elder tree."

Not for the first time, Ash wondered who these ' _brothers and sisters'_ were, since the ghost mistress had claimed that she was the sole resident in the entire mansion. He had previously thought that the little girl he had met outside the mansion was perhaps… _not_ a resident of the mansion, and perhaps, lived close by. But… what was it with these invisible people in the first place? Where they people at all?

"Contrary to what fools believe, a ghost doesn't want to kill people, boy. No, not at all. A ghost would catch you unaware, and get you _screaming in fear,_ and relish it. It would… _taste_ your fear, and devour it with great delectation. It would continue doing so until it had had its meal, and then… it would allow another of its kind to continue the same."

The picture was downright scary, but the unsaid implication was clear.

"But not kill me?"

Agatha's grin twisted. " _Not kill you._ Killing the prey would end the entertainment… and entertainment these days," she paused, as if suddenly nostalgic, "—is in short supply. No, they would rather, you survive, and continue screaming and fearing for your own life." She paused again. "It takes a rare psychopath to make a _wild_ ghost go ahead for the kill… or…"

"Someone like me." Ash admitted.

Agatha smiled.

"Is that why… Trevenant is so… hateful of me?"

Her expression shifted into a scowl. Not for the first time, Ash wondered what was with her and rapidly shifting expressions.

"The emotions of ghost-kind are warped, boy. Do not think your little mind can comprehend it all." The crone snapped. "I expect you let out the tree out?"

Ash nodded. He had let out Trevenant to loiter around the castle, expecting that the elder tree pokémon would probably appreciate staying around his own kind. Ever since the incident at Mount Hideaway, the elder tree had been more… understanding of his current situation, and ceased attempts at hostility.

Now it was only indifference.

Over the week that Ash had spent in Pallet Town, Trevenant had kept his association limited to Gengar, who had reciprocated interaction in return. The forest around the ranch had provided for a good residence for the elder tree, and without the occasional presence once or twice a day, Trevenant had been an absolute recluse. Interestingly enough, the ghost hadn't even interfered with the residents of the forest, from what Professor Oak had told him. If anything, the elder tree seemed to… _dote,_ for lack of a better word, on the Sudowoodo and the forest-dwellers in there.

Taking that as a positive note in his book, Ash had made it a point to release Trevenant and Gengar out for the night when he had put tent with Misty, after leaving Pallet Town.

"I have let him out before taking the stairs. I hope that won't be… a problem?"

"Ghosts are always welcome to the Ainsworth mansion, boy. More so, than humans."

Ash didn't know what to make of that statement.

The old crone seemed to be deciding whether to say something or not. Then, making up her mind, she continued. "I will let you stay for the day today, and see for my own… curiosity, if you can manage it. Should you be in a condition to continue your stay at the Tower, then we shall begin your tutelage about ghost-kind." She paused. "Be assured, even if Gengar should decide to stay back with her kin, I shall not go back on my word."

She swiftly turned around, as walked away, as Ash stood, transfixed, his mind going over and over at the unsaid implication.

He had come in with three ghost pokémon in his team. Out of them, Dusclops would stay back, if only for healing—or whatever its counterpart was, for ghosts anyway. _If_ and when Dusclops would return to being… _normal,_ he supposed, whatever _normal_ meant for a ghost- only then Ash would be getting her back—if she wanted to leave the confines of the mansion to come with him that is.

Gengar, was more complicated. Now, after all this, Ash could somewhat comprehend the conflicting expressions on the shadow pokémon's face- Gengar must have known that after getting back with her kin after such a long period of time, it was only prudent that she would _like_ to stay with them, in an environment that brought her memories of her original and true master. Her association with Ash, however significant, was brief at best.

That left Trevenant. The elder tree ghost only associated with Gengar, and it was obvious, that it only maintained its indifferent attitude towards Ash because the contrary would not be taken well, not even by Gengar, who was ferociously protective of him. With Gengar choosing to stay back, there was a good chance that Trevenant would opt to stay back at the mansion- the ambient ghost-environment would probably be a preferable alternative, and almost as good as the forest back in Hoenn.

Not for the first time, Ash wondered if he had come all the way to Lavender Town with his ghosts, only to lose them all.

* * *

 **Back in Hearthome city.**

"And both Spiritomb and Malamar are unable to battle." The commentator roared into the megaphone, his voice now completely strained and hoarse, but no less excited. "What a battle, ladies and gentlemen! And now, one more battle left. Should Lucian be able to defeat the reigning Champion, then the battles will continue. Should Cynthia manage to overpower Lucian, she would seal her name as the official leader of the Sinnoh Elite Four, and Ace Squad. So what will it be, ladies and gentlemen? Lucian's conquest, or Cynthia's continuance?"

"I choose you, go Alakazam!"

"And Lucian chooses Alakazam. Will Cynthia's pokémon be able to battle against Alakazam to score another victory?"

Cynthia, for all intents and purposes, knew what was coming ahead. Lucian's ace in the hole. And she knew just what she needed in case that came to pass. She had been rather… conflicted about using it in public, but if push came to shove, she knew she would have no choice but to go ahead with it.

She raised her last ultraball, and unleashed her last battler, one she had complete trust, to overwhelm Lucian's Alakazam.

"I choose you, Charizard!"

The creature that appeared in front of her, and stood, facing Alakazam was a ten-foot behemoth, with wings raised on either side, each spanning a length of over eleven feet, literally changing the status quo from being the _next battler_ to the _most intimidating presence_ in the entire arena. With a snort, it belched out crimson flames from its snout, stared at the pitiful excuse of a psychic that had the guts to stand and face its mighty wrath.

With an incredible roar, Charizard declared war on Alakazam.

"I'm not done, yet." Lucian uttered audibly. "Allow me, to show you my latest acquisition." He lifted up his right hand, upon which stood a ring, with a spheroidal pearl-like substance glinting in sunlight.

 _A meganite stone._ Cynthia confirmed. _Just as I expected._

Now that she noticed, even Alakazam had a similar pearl, on one end of the spoon in its right hand.

"Alakazam," Lucian commanded in a high tone, bright light emanating out of the pearl. "Time to exterminate that Charizard. Mega-Evolve!"

And Alakazam _roared._

Its moustache increased by copious amounts, as its overly large head magnified in size. Its arms and legs atrophied considerably, as it now sat, cross-legged, levitating in the air, with _five_ spoons of pure silver, floating in a half-corona above its head.

And the audience went mad with hysteria.

* * *

"Oh my word. It seems that the conspiracy theories were actually true! A second form of evolution, mega-evolution, is actually, a possibility. Alakazam has indeed, evolved into a further and higher advanced stage, Mega-Alakazam." The commentator yelled himself hoarse.

Above in the glass-walled balcony, several of the spectators were watching the entire thing with a varying range of expressions. From interest in Steven's face, to outright scowl in Lance's, to pleasantly surprised in case of Diantha. Lorelei, who had yet to see a mega-evolution in the face, seemed dead curious.

"What is that idiot thinking?" Lance muttered furiously. "Demonstrating the power of a mega-evolution in such a public event? Does he even want to give away every card we have up our sleeve?"

Diantha, who was standing just next to him on the right, seemed to be more understanding of Lance's fury. "I can understand. This will attract all sorts of negative attention on meganite research."

"Lucian must have been really pushed, if he has resorted to this." Steven muttered. "But you are right, this will have a greater impact on the state of affairs."

Meanwhile, a person sitting far, far away from Hearthome city, far from Sinnoh as a whole, couldn't help but smirk at Steven's words. "My word, you are more right than you know, Deputy Champion." His lips twisted. "You are more right than you know."

* * *

Cynthia observed the Alakazam, now Mega-Alakazam, levitating in the air, its psychic aura giving her slight creeps. Now, she wasn't a psychic by any accord, but judging by what she knew about Mega Evolution and Alakazam in general, there was a high possibility that the Mega-evolved psi was scanning her Charizard, inside out, and the more she allowed Charizard to be in its direct psychic gaze, the more his secrets would be milked out.

 _I need to end this quickly._

"Charizard, use dragon pulse."

Charizard lifted his maw up, before releasing a powerful burst of spectral energy, which automatically shifted into the shape of a large, spectral dragon before shooting towards Alakazam, who didn't seem at all concerned.

 _Rip control, and send it back._ Lucian commanded.

"Kazaam!" The psi type muttered, as the five silver spoons floating above it shone with eldritch power, forcibly containing the dragon pulse back into a sphere of compressed energy, before propelling it back to Charizard.

Charizard raised his left arm, the claws elongating as draconic energy seeped in, before swatting away the incoming attack to the right. The redirected dragon pulse slammed into the ground, created a terrific explosion.

"Take to the skies." Cynthia warned, as Charizard flapped his wings, pushing himself into the air.

 _Use psycho cut._ Lucian commanded.

Instantly, several psycho cuts appeared in front of Mega-evolved creature, who sent them towards the fire-type, said fire-type easily dodging them, and if not, countering them with dragon claw. Not that it mattered to Alakazam, it had all the psychic energy in the universe to harness and use for this battle.

 _Analyse. Precision set. Successive fire._ Came the next command.

Instantly, a dozen psycho cuts reappeared in front of Alakazam, as the psi-type instantly calculated the possible flight patterns as demonstrated by Charizard, depending upon its own analysis of Charizard's own height, weight, body movement, move sets, shape and length of wingspan, and hundreds of other statistical data that Alakazam had gathered via its psychic scan on the fire-type. In less than a second, all that information was matched with the flight patterns that Charizard had just demonstrated, and the trajectories were created, and set, taking wind movement and probability distribution into account.

 _Set. Fire._

All twelve psycho cuts shot into the air, and despite all of Charizard's weaving through the air, several of them slashed into the great behemoth, making him fall down to the ground, roaring in pain.

"And Mega-Alakazam makes the first strike. Will this mean the defeat of Charizard?"

"Don't stop." Lucian ordered. "Repeat fire."

"Kazaam!"

Another set of psycho cuts appeared in the air, their trajectories now taking into account Charizard's injury and position on the ground, before being projected into towards the pseudo-dragon.

"Incinerate." Cynthia ordered calmly, as the fire-type lifted his maw, to unleash hellish flames towards the psi type, directly in the face of the psycho cuts, creating an explosion that destroyed nine of them. Two of them moved away, one to the right, and one to the left, spinning like a boomerang, as they attacked Charizard from both angles.

"Slash them away with dragon claw."

And then the third and remaining psycho cut slammed into Charizard from amidst the smoke, scoring another head-on strike.

"And Lucian scores another." The commentator roared madly. "Mega-Alakazam is playing with Charizard."

"No one plays with my Charizard." Cynthia whispered, as she cast a sideways glance towards the glass balcony. "No one."

She touched the tear-drop ornament on her neck, as she cupped it with her palm, before beginning to whisper, what sounded like chanting. "Keystone, respond to my heart. Beyond Evolution… Mega-evolve!"

And the arena was inundated with overwhelming, bright light.

* * *

The Charizard-line, were a rather peculiar line, even amongst fire-types. For one thing, there existed no other pokémon to date, whose genetic constitution matched so closely to draconic DNA, as it did in case of Charizard. One only needed to see a Charizard to understand the draconic parentage in them, what with their entire body anatomy being better suited to draconic species than most dragons out there.

And yet, they were classified as a fire/flying-type species.

Initially, the official record about their classification had generated much negative public opinion. After all, if it looks like a dragon, flies like a dragon, belches flames like a dragon, it must inevitably be a dragon. The answer to that conundrum came from a research report submitted by Lazarus White, a reclusive pokémon researcher from north-east Johto. His grand-daughter Liza, is presently the current head of the family and the caretaker of the Charicific Valley, a haven for Charizards. The protection and maintenance of the Valley has been with the White family for several generations now.

According to Lazarus, the Charizard-line came showed direct descent from two very specific draconic DNA—the first is Tyrantrum, a fossil pokémon species whose remnants were excavated out in Kalos around ninety years ago. The second, unbelievably so, was Moltres- as was discovered after detailed analysis of one of its feathers that was apparently gifted to the Wataru Clan some two centuries ago. It is not clear how such a genetic combination came into being, though it is believed, that the amplified potency of the Fire nature in Moltres was somehow able to dominate over the draconic nature in Charizard, giving higher priority to Fire typing than Dragon. The exact answer is still a subject of research, but it is clear that the Charizard line, is the _only_ fire-type in the world of pokémon, that is, to put in more crass words, _not a glass cannon,_ like most fire-types generally are.

While the draconic DNA turned recessive, it did impart the physical strength and might of dragons to the Charizard-line, a fact that becomes extremely distinct with each successive evolution. As a Charmander, almost nothing save a dragon dance, or a paltry dragon breath was what it was capable of, but on further evolutions, a Charizard was capable of performing _almost_ everything that a pure dragon could do.

And yet, its innate Fire nature didn't give way to Dragon to establish dominance.

The answer to this quandary came in the form of Mega-evolution.

Apparently, when flooded with Mega-Evolution energy, the two segments of Charizard's DNA reacted differently. Apparently, on evolution to Charizard, the draconic genes became _almost_ at par with the genetics it had obtained from Moltres, enough that both had equal chances of evolving further. The theory, that there existed not one, but two co-dominant genes that had the ability to establish themselves through Mega-evolution, had initially shocked the world, and had been taken in with a pinch of salt by researchers throughout the world.

And then, Mega-evolution had slammed the truth to their faces, as two independent forms of Mega-Charizard were obtained. X and Y.

Mega-Charizard X, a type where the draconic DNA got access to further evolve, and become much more active than the extremely potent Moltres DNA, gave rise to the form of a black draconic Charizard with a dragon/fire typing. It was, in essence, a quintessential specimen with equal aspects of Fire and Dragon, both enhanced to massive proportions. The other, was Mega-Charizard Y, where the Moltres DNA attained further evolution, making the form the ultimate fire-type, second only to the might of the original legendary itself. Its fire-power and abilities were superlative, a clear indication that its origins lay in the primordial personification of Fire itself.

And that was what Cynthia's Charizard had chosen to evolve into. Even as a Charmander, it had a Monster egg-group, and not a dragon-one, and thus, had always been larger, stronger and mightier than those with dragon-egg bearings. Even as a Charizard, it had been trained to unlock its innate Fire-nature, using it to a superlative degree. The power of Mega-evolution, flooding its tissues and nerves, now only unleashed it from any and all chains holding back the power descendant from the primordial fire-bird.

Mega-Charizard Y let out an earth-shattering _roar._

And every single sound in the entire stadium was silenced, all of them in awe of the magnificent pokémon that stood, head and shoulders taller than the tallest Charizard, with a whooping thirteen-foot height, and twice as large wing-span. The entire body seemed much more reptilian than before, though several blade-like protrusions were visible on its body, right from the head to the appendages to the tail, at the end of which, burned a massive, scorching flame bright enough to light up the entire battleground by itself.

"You have a meganite stone too, huh?" Lucian forced it through his teeth, not at all expecting such a come-back. Sure, the girl was good, very good in fact, for a generalist that is. But to have a meganite-stone and a pokémon that responded to it, to such _perfect_ levels, was something the psychic master had not anticipated.

 _Clearly, I evaluated her wrong._ He admitted to himself, the confession leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "Still… let's match the powers of me and my Mega-Alakazam, who can divine nearly almost everything by nary but a single gaze, against your powerhouse of a Mega-Charizard, and the best commands that you can give him."

Cynthia grinned. "Let it be so. Charizard, bring in the heat!"

And the entire arena seemed to be submerged with searing, intolerable heat, as if they were all standing in the midst of an active volcano, spewing out magma from its depths. For someone like Alakazam, whose entire existence was maintained by psychic energy, the intolerable heat seemed to provide an extremely annoying distraction, as he forced his power to _forcible create_ convection, in an attempt to seep away the heat towards the sky.

"My Mega-Charizard Y's ability is Drought. I'm sure you know what that means?" Cynthia asked rhetorically.

Lucian cursed under his breath. Drought, his ass! He knew Drought. His Ninetales could bring the effects of Drought into battle, enhancing her own Fire-type attacks better than Blaze under a Sunny Day. _This?_ This seemed like a monster made out of a dozen _Droughts_ at the same time.

"Raze the field, Charizard." Cynthia commanded. "Multi-spin."

 _What the heck is that?_ Lucian thought in worry.

Mega-Charizard Y, it seemed, knew just what to do. It flew high into the air, before _summoning_ a mother of all Fire Spins, before unleashing it into the battlefield, before flying up higher and higher, its wings glowing bright, spinning as it went, before manipulating its momentum effortlessly to send repeated strokes of powerful _air slashes_ into the fire spin raging on the ground beneath, literally slicing it apart with such precision that it would make any self-respecting Metagross die of jealousy. Sliced apart, the fragments of the Fire spin reformed, and now, there were six independent fire-spins, raging all across the ground.

"Your Alakazam can calculate Charizard's trajectory. I can admit that. But… can it do so while escaping from these?" Cynthia waved at the multiple fire spins, that razed the battlefield, independent of everything else, making it difficult for the mega-evolved psi to even concentrate in the battle, its entire concentration engrossed in maintaining convection to clear out the heat from wherever it stood at any moment.

And just like that, the tables had turned.

 _You can run, but you cannot hide._ Cynthia smiled.

 _Alakazam, use psycho cut on Charizard._ Lucian commanded, inwardly feeling that the battle had once again, turned into the same as his Bronzong against that Garchomp.

"Shadow claw." Cynthia commanded, as Charizard's claws got engulfed with ghostly fumes, the very antithesis of psychic power, before it slammed said claws head-on into the incoming psychic barrage.

"End it. Use blast burn."

The fire-type let out a furious roar, before slamming its forelimb into the ground, literally uprooting the entire arena, as rocks and liquid magma were pulled out of the ground, the hellish flames ascending upward al across the battleground, allowing no place where Alakazam could stay unaffected from its unbridled fury.

After the smoke receded, only a single draconic creature remained standing in whatever remained of the battle arena. A wounded and completely unconscious Alakazam, now devolved back into its natural form, lay fallen on one of the rock boulders.

Silence pervaded the stadium for a while.

"Alakazam is unable to battle. The winner is Charizard." The commentator whispered, his voice slowly gaining strength. "And with that, CYNTHIA has solidified her position as the Sinnoh _Champion!"_

Said champion turned towards Lucian, who seemed completely exhausted, and was staring back at her, as if seeing her for the first time. Then, the corner of the man's lips twisted into a content smile, as he nodded at her. It was as if, a misty glass between them had dropped, and now the man was realizing something that he had missed spotting in the first place.

No words were said, and yet, something far more precious was admitted.

And Cynthia smiled back.

* * *

 **Back in Lavender Town.**

The Ainsworth Mansion was still like what Gengar had remembered it, even all those years ago. The same silent corridors, with Chandelure and their kin on the walls and ceilings, with trapped souls of the damned burning in their cursed light, creating an eerie atmosphere, just like she remembered, during her own time as a Gastly. Like all pure ghosts, she didn't truly know when it was, that she had… manifested inside the world, but it must have been sometime after the congregation of otherworldly fumes had shifted, and she had finally gained slight amounts of conscience.

It had not been for several moons, before she had even begun to recognize the mansion that was her abode. All that time passed as a congregation of gases, she had not even come close to comprehending the existence of the world that lay out of the reach of her senses.

She remembered the first time she had stepped out into the expanses of the vast, expansive, alien world… a _real_ world, and not just a myriad of dimensions interweaved into each other by chaotic energy. The _real_ world had _strings,_ had rules governing its motion, its activity and its existence. It had been a rather… odd sensation when the rules of the _real_ world- _physics,_ she had later learnt the term—trying to bend her, a creature of chaos to follow its laws. She remembered the first time she had been powerful enough to _phase_ through objects, proving her might, making her first stand against this alien world in which she, and her master.. _Ethan,_ was a part of.

And of course, nothing beat the experience of facing a psychic for the first time.

Funnily enough, it had been a newly evolved Ninetales. The feeling of the psychic trying to force its power on her, and the initial… reaction that had occurred when her own half-assed attempt at a shadow ball, had met with a Psybeam… it had been…. Interesting.

Gengar grinned.

She had been wit Ethan for a couple of years, slowly gaining more and more dominance over the powers of chaos, before she had grown confident enough to embrace the eerie power that evolution brought in with itself. It had felt odd, transforming into something much more solid, and yet… much more gaseous… becoming larger, and yet… much more condensed… having a proper face, with eyes and that gash, and yet, her awareness spreading out over a larger extent than it did as a Gastly.

A Haunter. More powerful, more potent, more playful. More ruthless, more terrible, more… cruel.

Then Ethan had returned to the mansion, and how… different, everything had seemed to her senses. When she had left, the mansion had felt like a nest weaved with chaos. Now… if only she could describe it. It was like knowing the world only by its tangibility for years, only to see it with open eyes for the first time.

It had been… fascinating.

And when Ethan had left, he had taken two more Gastly with him, kin that was now Haunter's to take care of, to aid them grow, to make sure that they too, would ensure that Chaos dominated over the world humans called their reality.

Gengar's grin deepened.

She slowly levitated through the shadows past the ancient pipelines, her tiny claws touching the sink, imbibing the residual energies on the surfaces, with every speck, every shade, telling her a story of the time she had been away, a story she should have been part of… had that… incident not have happened.

The grin deepened.

The death of her trainer had been… a metamorphosis for herself. She had found herself condensing, shifting, morphing into something sinister, something that slowly manifested into the darkness that had been her abode, and her existence.

And it had taken a void-user and a human, to pull her out from that blackness.

 _The shame… the shame…._

Her body halted in mid-air, as something else attracted her attention.

It was the elder tree. The protector of her forest back there in Hoenn. The ghost that her trainer… Ash Ketchum had captured… the ghost that had attempted to kill her trainer. The ghost that she had slowly grown to… associate all over again, over the last few moons.

She should have had seen it coming.

She gazed at the newcomer.

 _ **What… do you want?**_

An unnecessary question… since it was more than clear what the Elder tree ghost had wanted. During the little amount of association she had had with him back at the forests in the Ranch, the elder tree had been… indirectly hinting at it.

It wanted to be with its own kind. With ghosts. And now, inside this mansion, he had found a suitable alternative. The problem was… Trevenant wasn't hinting at his own decision to stay. No, he was trying to convince her to stay back as well.

The elder tree made a rough, incomprehensible sound that gave the impression of frustration. Frustration at Gengar taking so much time accepting a decision that shouldn't even have taken more than a single thought at all. The choice between staying back with her kin, with her master's family, with other ghosts… and going back with a human she had only associated for a brief time period.

There was no choice at all.

 _Right?_

* * *

 **Meanwhile, with Ash.**

 _ **You are just going to let the otherworldly ones, leave? Just like that?**_

Ash gave Aoi a confused stare. "Why shouldn't I? I did give yourself a choice, as well. Didn't I?"

Said pokémon rolled her eyes, as she pushed her snout into his abdomen, stretching her hind legs as she did. _**Yes, but they joined you, and by conquest, they owe you their loyalty. The shadow at least, after all the time you spent in training them.**_

The answer was ready.

"Yes, and in return, Gengar protected me, first from Trevenant, and then… well, at your island." He wasn't oblivious to the sudden twitch in her golden fur as he mentioned it. "And then… she has followed my every order, and also fought for me, not once but multiple times, going ahead to choose to explode, if it meant acquiring me a win. I say that is more than enough repayment."

 _ **Then what about the steel behemoth? The dragons? The tadpole? Would you also… let them go, should they find newer pursuits that do not align with yours?**_

Ash couldn't help but scowl, as the disheartened and indifferent face of Shelgon appeared in his mind once again, one that quickly succeeded by Magnus, Metagross and almost each and every pokémon that was a part of his team. And amidst all of them, a single voice, and a single line… reiterating through his mind.

 _On evolution… should a pokémon find its trainer not acceptable enough, it often revolts against him._

He wasn't sure what he would do if Shelgon decided that he hadn't been a good enough trainer. Considering the present situation, he wasn't sure he could even blame the little dragon if he did. That, led him to another troubling thought.

 _All Metagross are part of the Hive, and the Hive is a part of all that is Metagross._

Could he bear it? Could he simply let it go, if Shelgon, Metagross and the others decide that he wasn't worth it anymore? Could he just do that?

His fingers tightly gripped the bedsheet, as he tried to reign on his fears, his emotions…

Could he… just let it go?

It was just like watching the G.S. Ball shattering in front of him, tearing apart into two pieces. Could he… just watch his heart… tear all over again?

 _ **You too have a right to be selfish, Ash. Everyone has a right to be selfish.**_

"But…?"

 _ **Do you think the team… the same you care for so much, joined you out of altruism? The baby dragon wants to spread out wings and fly. The steel behemoth wants to attain true strength and precision. The black dragon wants to achieve a meaning for its scarred life. The dark feline… she craves for acceptance, the rogue crustacean, for strength… Even me too, I have my own desires. Each and every one in your team has their own, and those that are too young, will gain a desire to achieve through their association with you…**_

 _ **Then why can't it work the same way for yourself? Don't you too… deserve… to have your desires fulfilled?**_

"My desires…. Fulfilled." Ash muttered, more to himself, than to Aoi. Many and oft, he had faced with the same question again and again, only the person asking that changed with time. The answer to that, however, had never wavered. Not once.

But now…

 _You too deserve to be selfish…._

As nasty thought entered his mind, something he had never known existed, as it crawled out of the deepest trenches of his heart.

 _Even your mother has kept you ignorant about your father all this time, despite knowing how much you wanted to know about him. Delia Ketchum knew that your happy face was just a mask, and yet… she kept on the façade, as long as everything appeared happy and delightful. So why should you?_

He shook his head, as if doing that would send the negative thoughts churning in his head away from distracting him. He never noticed the strange way Aoi was staring at him as he did that.

 _ **Anything wrong?**_

"No…. I just… I just need some time alone."

 _ **I should come with you.**_

Ash simply raised a hand. "I need to… think it through. You being there… would only convince me that it is you trying to make me think like that, and not my own…"

 _ **But…?**_

"Please?" Ash begged, and as unhappy as she was about it, Aoi couldn't say no to his distressed outlook. _**Very well. Please take care.**_

Ash chuckled mirthlessly. "I'll survive." He twisted the knob of the door, leaving the room to walk out into the corridor, never noticing the _unnatural_ blackness of the shadow his form produced, despite the dim light in the room.

* * *

 **AN: And that was all for this chapter. Initially, I wanted to do the Lavender Town arc in a single, 15k long chapter, and be done with it. Then, I changed my mind, and began to improvise a little more. Hopefully, you liked what I did with the chapter and the story so far. I must admit, when I started Legend, I estimated the entire Indigo Arc to be over in around 500k words. Now though… I'd be lucky if I managed to end it within 800k, and even then, that would be pushing. The oncoming week is a holiday and I expect to pump up an extra chapter alongside my usual one per week.**

 **Also, Legend has more than 1k favourites, follows and reviews. I am so very grateful for the responses that my readers have shown me and hopefully the response remains the same for a long, long time. I assure you, I am planning to hit the 400k word count before the year ends.**

 **Lastly… a little warning. The story is going to be darker as the plot progresses, though not necessarily ending in carnage or anything similar to that, but please keep in mind that in a realistic world, lives often get disrupted even without any definable reason, and the same might just happen here. If that feels… awfully un-relatable to you, my sincere apologies, but that is what Legend is going to incorporate.**

 **That was all. Please leave a review if you liked the chapter. Thank you.**


	31. Perspective

**Roughly eight decades ago…**

" _I do not understand, Ethan, what good would it do to leave the territory when you have the perfect haven to become a ghost master?" The elder man looked at his only son with apprehension. "You may think that you ran away, but in truth, we allowed to travel all across Kanto to give you a taste of the life outside our haven, so that you might realise the futility of your beliefs. We never anticipated that you would get lost in your own delusions."_

 _Ethan, now nineteen, simply looked away. He was tired of the rigid laws and traditions that his father, Artemis Ainsworth, upheld with great faith. Over the centuries, the House of Ainsworth had produced some of the most powerful and accomplished Ghost Masters in Kanto and the surrounding regions, so much that the name Ainsworth had come to be associated with mastery in ghost types. However, it was also true that the accomplishments dated over several generations, and there seemed to be an acute shortage of such accomplishments over the last three generations._

" _I am only trying to stand up to the Ainsworth name, father." He replied, pride filling his voice. "We have stagnated, and we need to change in the coming times. We cannot just pretend that the world is all the same."_

" _Hah!" The sixtyish man laughed. "If one also changes with the changing world, then how will one know that the times have changed?"_

 _Ethan rolled his eyes. He had left Lavender Town back when he was fourteen, with his Gastly- who had, through training, effort and experience, had evolved into a formidable Haunter. He and Haunter had faced the Draconids of the east, the Blackthorns, the Wataru people, the Caucasians, and the ice-people of the north. He and Haunter had grown in their self-imposed exile from home, learning, experiencing, growing._

 _And now he was back for more of his family's residents to experience the larger world outside. He had… simply not estimated the true breadth of the situation._

" _You ran away, dreamy-eyed like that, stayed out of communication for years, married that little skank from Bavarian cliff-"_

" _Her name is Emily, and she's my wife. I'd request you not call her that." Ethan growled._

" _Ha!" Artemis laughed. "As if some fisherwoman would ever become the lady of our elevated name. Admit it, Ethan… you have made many mistakes, but this is the end of it. I will not allow anyone to muddy the Ainsworth name to suit their foolish fantasies, not even my heir." The man's eyes shone crimson red. "I thought yourself capable of listening to proper advice, but it seems that won't be. I will have to show you the error of your ways, no matter if you want to accept the truth or not."_

 _Almost instantly, something large and powerful gripped Ethan in the behind, as two crimson eyes glowed in the darkness behind him—said creature's powerful claws gripping his shoulders, squeezing them to the point of hurting._

" _Caesar." Ethan almost whimpered, as Caesar—his father's Haunter, began to slowly manipulate the ambient ghostly energies that Ethan's body had soaked over the entire time he had lived at the mansion, making the young man whimper in agony. "Father, tell him to stop."_

" _He will stop, when you realise that I am the head of the Ainsworth name, and that you are duty bound to follow my orders." The man barked. "Caesar, bring him in."_

 _But Ethan had other ideas, like managing to push his elbow into one of the apricorn devices he had managed to acquire from a craft smith in the Canyon, in which pokémon could be stored for short intervals of time, so that they could rest, when injured. Sadly, the devices were quite fragile, despite being handy. So it was no surprise that the apricorn ball fell down from his robes to the ground, shattering into several pieces, as a dense cloud of dust and venomous gases shot out of them, condensing furiously into the form of a Haunter._

" _Sylvi", Ethan yelled, letting out another whimper as Caesar's grip tightened, drawing blood. "Defend me."_

 _Sylvi, Ethan's starter who had now evolved into a Haunter, let out a cackle, as her ominous eyes stared at Caesar, as the female ghost stared at her own father after so many moons, before pushing herself with a gust of otherworldly energy, enough to push Caesar away from Ethan, slamming him through the walls, passing through them as if they were simply nothing… much to Artemis's apprehension._

" _Sylvi…." The man muttered, "The one born from Caesar's fumes… wasn't it? That fickle little Gastly joined you on your foolish endeavour. How… serendipitous."_

" _And she has grown out of her father's dominion." Ethan returned, as he spotted Sylvi grabbing Caesar against the floor, trying to suffocate him through Miasma, a technique the Ainsworth's were famous for. Ethan had only developed and refined the technique further to make it much more lethal and devastating. "As have I."_

" _The little dog has finally learned to growl, I see."_

" _No. You are simply hearing it for the first time."_

 _Artemis stood in his place. "I suppose I am." His fists clenched. "I will however, not accept any lowborn as part of my family. If you wish to continue with your woman and your foolish endeavours, then you are no longer my kin. Neither that woman, nor your future offspring, shall ever become an Ainsworth, not until I am alive."_

 _Ethan however, was no longer listening, as he pulled out two more apricorn balls out of his robes, the very same ones in which he had captured two Gastly he had found loitering inside his old room, wanting to take them with him on his journey past the mighty ocean._

" _In that case, I declare that I captured two Gastly from the Mansion, Lord Ainsworth." He replied formally, raising the apricorn balls, not noticing the surprised glance his father gave him. I need no further aide from my ancestry. I assure you, you will never hear from me… ever again."_

 _He turned towards Sylvi. "Come on, Sylvi."_

 _The Haunter in question, reformed back into her corporeal self, before positioning herself behind his shoulder. Without another word, Ethan and Sylvi walked down the steps of the mansion, much unaware to the look of complete shock in Artemis's eyes._

"… _."_

" _Eth…." Artemis croaked... "Did my son just desert me, Caesar?"_

 _Caesar just stared at the duo walking away from the Ainsworth mansion, his crimson eyes glowing ominously._

* * *

 **Present day.**

Caesar's eyes flashed in the darkness, the ominous crimson shining in the eerie setting of the mansion. The day was almost about to end, and the _blight_ was still inside the walls of his master's stronghold. Thousands of moons had passed, but neither Master Artemis's wayward son, nor his own kin Sylvi had ever returned to the ancient home of the Ainsworths.

He remembered how the bastard's child had been brought in by Master Artemis, as a viable replacement for Ethan, after some years of silent sulking. The idea had been to see Ethan suffer as he and Master Artemis walked away with his sole offspring, but the dragon of Time be damned, Ethan wasn't there. Caesar had great fun cursing the woman to stone, as he slowly drank the life force out of her.

And then Master Artemis had taken Ethan's offspring, a female baby named Agatha, and trained her as his heir. Personally, Caesar had been hoping to slowly torture the girl and drink her life force, but humans are sentimental like that, or so he was told.

It was unfortunate that Master Artemis had died of an early death soon after that, which was probably why Agatha, the new mistress of Ainsworth, was more like her bastard father than Master Artemis. Blood is thicker than water after all.

She had chosen her own ghosts, and Caesar, who had once ruled the community residing in the mansion, had become reduced to a fellow inhabitant, loitering around in the vast expanses, alone, powerless and without significance.

And now…

Because of the involvement of another _human,_ Sylvi had finally re-entered the mansion, but unfortunately, history seemed to be repeating itself. Despite whatever sinistrous event had befallen on his Master's son, it seemed Sylvi had learned nothing.

 _Nothing._

Now once again, she was demonstrating clear cognitive dissonance in her decisions. Once again, she was at cross paths between choosing her own kin, and that _damned_ human whom she had been calling her new master. Of course, Sylvia hadn't yet made an informed choice about her own future abode, but the delay she was making was more than enough to raise suspicion about her wishes… and Caesar didn't know what he would do if his kin decided to betray him once more.

He would _not_ allow another wayward human… just like her master's brat, to sully the dreams and beliefs of his Master Artemis, once again.

The silent Gengar felt the human leave his room to walk outside, as he silently passed into his shadow, leaving the room with him. Thankfully, the already chilly atmosphere of the house prevented his presence from being detected by the human, not that it would help matters for the teen anyway. After all, it was something taught to all scions of Ainsworth.

 **If you are suddenly attacked by a slight chill, it is the evidence of an approaching Gengar. There is no escaping it.**

 **Give up.**

Caesar's eyes glowed a sinister crimson in the darkness.

* * *

Ash stood at the edge of the eerily empty corridor, his hands hanging almost aimlessly on either side, as he stood at the precipice of the creaking and rickety wooden staircase. The room where he had been granted residence was at the end of the corridor, some twenty feet away from where he was currently standing. Sure he had walked out, but from a sideward glance, he had indeed checked that Aoi had not been following him behind his back. The last couple of weeks spent in the company of the Ninetales had taught him just how… clandestine and stealthy, the fox could be, when she wanted.

He let out a sigh, as he casually inspected the wooden frame of the top step of the staircase in front of him. The chilly ambience of the mansion was getting to him, and he wondered for a moment if he should just call Aoi to him, for some warmth if nothing else. His thoughts flew around what Cynthia was possibly doing back in Sinnoh- he hadn't really had a chance (or the mindset or inclination) to call her back in the aftermath of the Battle Tower. Then again, she had mentioned about the Elite Four lining up to challenge her for the position of Champion—she would be a mess herself, without him pouring down his own insecurities into the equation.

He calmly pulled out the lone fastball on his person, the only one left out of the ones he had purchased from the Mirage Island departmental store. He had made some discreet inquiries about the maker of these… custom-designed pokeballs, and found about their source being a certain… Kurt Gushiken, a resident of Azalea Town in Johto. It wasn't… too far from the Archipelago where he had met Aoi for the first time, merely an hour's flight at sensible speeds on his Pidgeot. Apparently, the family had been _really, really_ involved in the craft of pokémon-making for several generations now, and were initially, a tribe from the region presently known as Grandpa Canyon, some miles away from Evolution Mountain, the natural boundary between Celadon and Fuchsia city.

Screw _dignity._ Having a _Champion_ as a girlfriend was too valuable of an opportunity to ignore, especially when he wasn't really doing this to attain any undue advantage. He was simply curious about something that was probably his last link to his father.

The information he had received had been… interesting.

It was no surprise that both pokeballs and trainer backpacks functioned on the same folded-space technology that had made several breakthroughs over the last century, because of geniuses like Professor Oak, helping to keep pokémon in suspended animation when not in use or injured. However, from what he had gotten to know, the _devices_ personally created by Kurt… were slightly different than the standard pokeball, or ultraball technology employed by Silph Co. Instead of keeping the pokémon in suspended animation, they somehow ensured that the pokémon simply stayed in its poke-energy form.

It would be very interesting to a researcher, but to Ash, completely useless. It was the second trivia that he had gotten, that held his attention.

Apparently, rumour was that someone in the Gushiken clan had theorized the makings of a device which could, hypothetically speaking, be able to _capture_ a legendary pokémon, or rather, a _specific_ legendary pokémon, which was believed to be the _guardian of the Ilex forest of Johto,_ and no other.

Ash pressed the release button of the fastball, as the ball's lid lifted up, revealing the contents inside, or in this case, one-half of a metallic sphere, which Ash had placed inside it for safekeeping. It was better than keeping it inside his bag or his pockets, he had a tendency of losing stuff when kept there. No, the fastball was a better and safer alternative, as far as he was concerned. The top-half of the GS Ball was small enough to fit into it anyway.

GS Ball.

A rather odd name, if that had indeed been the name of the ball in the first place. For a time, Ash had pondered if the G and S meant something _silly_ like Gold and Silver considering that the upper half had a golden coloration while the lower half (which Gary had stolen away) had been painted in silver. And then, he had had an epiphany.

The design of the GS Ball was unique, and… crude, at the same time, as if it was less of a pokeball and more of a transition from something far more rudimentary into a better finished product. And who better to start searching from, than an old family that had made pokeball crafting as its formal craft over generations?

The idea was simple. What if… what if it were simply the initials of the man, the craft smith that created the ball in the first place?

G. S.

Ash had searched whatever he could, for an old family name among Kanto and Johto on the League Database- a tiny little perk one got as an honorary associate of the League. The idea had been simple. Find a family associated with pokeball crafting or something associated with it that started with the letter S.

There were none.

Frustrated, Ash had nearly quit expecting any results from that avenue when something… crazy had appealed to him.

It was seeing a single name on the League database.

 _Gushiken Kurt._

He had almost forgotten about the traditional naming conventions of Kanto—he remembered studying that in his history class back in school. In olden days, the convention was that the family name was written before the name of the individual, since the family came first, and had a greater contribution to the world in general than an individual could possibly have. In case an individual gained fame of a near-superlative degree, the naming system for said individual would be reversed, as a way to demonstrate he or she is, the most eminent person belonging to said family. Samuel Oak, Lance Wataru, Agatha Ainsworth… were all prominent examples of that.

But what if the maker of the mysterious ball _wasn't_ as… eminent as them?

It had taken another deep search into the family genealogy of the Gushiken name, and Ash had found something.

 _Gushiken Suguru._

The initials fit seamlessly, and yet, it was something in the side notes mentioned to the record that had held Ash's attention.

 **Research paper on Gushiken Suguru's pokeball theory by Samuel Oak proves the impossible. The Oak-Rothsvale hypothesis under serious consideration.**

Ash had never really found anything further than that. Apparently, whatever the entire theory or the hypothesis had been about, it had been rendered classified by the League and non-accessible except to the highest levels of clearance. Also, there had been little to no interesting information about the _Rothsvale_ name, apart from being some old family that died out some decades ago.

Could the G and S be the initials of Gushiken Suguru? He didn't know. Some fanciful thinking had led him to even consider if the GS Ball was actually the theorized pokeball that held the potential to capture some specific legendary pokémon. But then again, if that had been so, why would the Ball rest in a sack inside the store room of Delia Ketchum's house? Wouldn't Professor Oak have had the ball kept inside some sealed glass container as a memento of some sort, if not an active experimental object?

He held the item in his hands. Even in the lack of proper lighting, the lid shined, the engraved G and S slightly visible. Not for the first time, he had the distinct feeling that there was more to the GS Ball, a mystery that entangled him, his father, and Professor Oak, and he promised himself once again that he would solve this mystery someday.

Absent-mindedly, he wiped on the G and S engravings with his thumb, though for some reason, the little circular thing _slipped_ off from his fingers, and fell down on the immediate next step below, twirling on its edges, _perfectly_ balanced.

 _Odd._

While the mansion blocked most of the sunlight, the trace amounts filtering through the cobwebs from an occasional hole was more than enough for Ash to locate the position of the little broken artefact.

He sighed. The last thing he wanted was to lose one of his most precious things inside a broken and haunted mansion. Without any further thought on the subject, he bent low to pick it up-

Only for the twirling upper half to slowly fall down to the immediate next step.

Almost subconsciously, Ash's entire body was gripped with a nostalgic sensation, reminding him of an eerily similar situation back at the Forest of Illusions. Acting on instinct, he instantly snatched the little lid from the ram shackled staircase as he spun around-

Only to meet, eye to eye, his widened, onyx eyes staring into cruel, crimson ones.

And then the nightmarish creature _grinned,_ giving Ash a mean push on his chest, as the trainer was lifted off his feet, headfirst, towards the floor _seventeen_ steps below, his eyes barely registering the shock of what had happened, before he was already airborne.

Caesar grinned.

* * *

 **Meanwhile in some other portion of the mansion.**

Sylvi stared at the Trevenant in front of her, the very same one whose behaviour had ranged from _insolence_ to _somewhat congenial_ to _downright stalkerish_ over the last few moons, something that had greatly _displeased_ the Gengar. As Queen of her forest, Trevenant had been one of her soldiers, protectors of the forest, as well as a form of… ally to her and the other ghosts that normally stayed in the center of the forest- well, not geographically, but the _chaotic_ centre of the forest. The elder tree's disposition towards her trainer after the initial days of his capture was still somewhat understandable, and truth be told, the shift from open animosity to plain indifference was _almost_ progress in Gengar's eyes. However, the sudden _shift_ in Trevenant ever since he had been released to loiter around the mansion was rather… unbecoming, and irritating.

 _ **What… do you want?**_ She asked again.

It was… unnecessary. The elder tree had been harping on the same thing over and over and over, almost as if Gengar's own demand for some personal solitude went completely unnoticed by the elder tree ghost. Last she checked, only she and her kin possessed the ability to _completely_ phase through near-almost everything.

 _Is this how the psi felt when I was being… enthusiastic?_ Gengar mused.

 _ **I am just demanding an answer to my quandary. Why the delay?**_

 _ **The delay?**_ Gengar asked in return.

 _ **The delay in sending the human away… He has no place in this haven. We can be finally free of him and those nuisances he keeps with himself.**_

Gengar was, officially surprised, a rare thing for the ghost-type. Then again, _surprise_ wasn't the _exact_ description that fitted her expression. Had she been more… able of deciphering and differentiating between the nuances of her different emotions and thought-streams, she would perhaps have described herself as _slightly confused,_ and _somewhat amused._

 _ **Why would… trainer leave? And why would I want to be free of him?**_

It was almost funny, how both Trevenant and Gengar's expressions shifted almost instantaneously—the latter shifting from confusion to amusement, while the former from assertion to outright confusion and befuddlement.

 _ **Surely you want to be free of the human? Why would you choose the human that enslaves us, instead of your own kin?**_

Sylvi grinned for the first time. Alas, the poor fool. The elder tree had been thinking it wrong, completely, _utterly wrong_ the whole time.

 _ **You think that me seeking solitude is my way of showing that I'd be better off staying here?**_ Gengar asked, her tone downright condescending. _**You have reversed the concept. My solitude is my way of simply remembering everything that happened, and what this place… my first abode, has been like over so many moons. It is my way of ensuring that I know every nook and canny of what has transpired here before I leave… who knows if I will ever return to this place again?**_

 _ **You choose a human's enslavement over your kin?**_ Trevenant's voice was an openly accusing one.

 _ **Do not think yourself capable of making decisions for me, tree. I have seen much of the world before I settled as Queen of the forests you protected for a while. I have experienced, seen the world at large, and learned the difference between perfection and stagnation. I will not fall for the same trap again.**_

It was true. Sylvi had encountered so much of the world, and understood what her master comprehended as stagnation, and why the correct way to grow stronger was to embrace the world, and grow while living in it, instead of hiding away inside a nest of safety. Somehow… the death of her master, the bloodlust fuelled by vengeance, and the duties of taking care of her kin, had made her fall for the same trap her master had taught her to avoid all those years ago. She had created a new abode, filled with ghostly energies, almost like an imitation of the Ainsworth Mansion inside the forest-filled island.

It had taken Ash, another human trainer, and his team, especially that _Absol,_ to break her out of her self-imposed illusion.

 _That,_ had been the true reason why she had been so… accepting of her new trainer's words and commands, because they represented something that she had been devoid of, over the better part of the century.

Change. Growth. Development.

And it hadn't been without results. Back in the forest, in an environment where she had held _insurmountable advantages_ against the feline, she had still tasted defeat. If not for Ash and his team, there was no doubt that the entire forest would have been decimated overnight, and _every single one_ of the residents captured by those nefarious catchers. And yet… after several fortnights, she could call herself monumentally head and shoulders tall over her initial skill level, if her recent battles had been of any indication.

 _No way_ was she going to desert the possibility of improving herself for the foolish, naïve hope that the mansion represented.

 _ **I see you have made your decision.**_

The pronouncement hadn't been made by an angry Trevenant, but by the subtly rising ash fumes that seemingly condensed to form into the shape of a Gengar, which was, surprisingly… of a pale white color, instead of the usual dark purple coloration.

This was _Aithne_ , Agatha's starter and oldest friend. An _exceptionally_ powerful and on top of that, _shiny_ Gengar.

Sylvi returned her an apprehensive stare. She had made her personal opinion extremely clear to Aithne and her fellow brothers—Anghus and Arawn. The three Gengar's link with Agatha went further than comprehensible, so much that at times, it wasn't clear _who_ was the otherworldly creature, the trainer, or the pokémon. It had made her feel _so much_ envious at first- why even _she_ hadn't had _that_ kind of bond with Ethan back then. Perhaps Ash would….

She considered Aithne again, dropping the thought. Perhaps a reiteration of the statement was in order.

 _ **I am a visitor. I will return with my trainer when he leaves the abode.**_

 _ **It is incomprehensible…**_ Trevenant raged. _**You are a fool. Humans are weak, and are prey for us. It is simply-**_

The rest of the words remained unsaid. A rather obvious thing really, considering that Trevenant's wooden neck was currently impaled with a large _shadow claw._ Unlike Sylvi, Aithne wasn't _that understanding_ towards those that spoke ill- or if it be correctly rephrased—even looked at her trainer and master, the wrong way. The fact that this tree, who should have known better than speaking ill of the _mistress,_ while being a host in her own house, was a transgression, she was not going to allow unpunished.

The fact that Trevenant was rendered completely helpless, despite his groans by the single attack, was a testament to Aithne's unspeakable strength, even more so considering that the shiny Gengar wasn't even _trying_ to come off as… formidable.

Aithne grinned, before she turned stiff, and then slowly turned to Sylvi. _**Your master is in danger.**_

With that ominous statement, Aithne simply phased down through the floors, pulling a groaning, screaming Trevenant with her.

Sylvi had only a second to comprehend the ominous statement, before she shot across the corridor, sensing her trainer's distress almost immediately.

* * *

Contrary to what Ash had believed, Aoi hadn't _really_ agreed to accept Ash's request. It wasn't so much as disobeying an order from her trainer, but more like her _innate belief_ that Ash wouldn't last two minutes unsupervised in such a place without anyone looking out for him. Considering that she was the only living thing around (she had her doubts about how _human_ this Agatha actually was), the responsibility fell on her. And not even the old gods could ever claim that Aoi was someone that shirked from responsibility.

So it was obvious, that moments after Ash left the room, Aoi had cloaked herself with distortion energy, rendering her temporarily invisible to the human eye, before sprinting out.

And just in due time.

She saw her trainer let out a shriek of fright, as he was bodily lifted off his limbs, before thrown off the staircase—one single hit on his head, and the damage would have been almost untreatable, and that didn't count the physical injuries that could result should he fall headfirst over the staircase like that.

In any other scenario, a simple psychic-move would have been enough to stop the fall. However, they were inside a mansion deeply rooted in chaotic energy, surrounding by ghosts almost everywhere. The chances of her pulling off an actual psychic move successfully were dim at best.

And she couldn't afford to dawdle.

Her eyes glowed bright crimson, as the endings of her nine tails began glowing bright vermillion, Aoi concentrated on a single command.

 _Stop._

And stop he did. There was no psychic energy outlining his body, no energy supporting him from falling. Ash felt like he was encountering free-fall—free from any form of forces, gravity or otherwise. He had just… _stopped._

Caesar let out an angry growl, at his prey being swept away from his own claws. It was… unacceptable. He glared at the Ninetales, before raising his claws, both brimming with ghostly energies, ready to slice her slim throat with one single strike. He would show the lithe feline what happened when one interrupted one's betters. With one single growl, he literally teleported to her, his claws bared in rage.

"GAAH!"

Aoi whimpered in pain as she raised one of her tails forward to intercept the attack, feeling the influx of otherworldly energy seeping into her veins, causing her to whine in agony as the chaotic energies reacted adversely with her own blood. Ignoring the pain, she focussed on stopping her trainer's descent, landing him safely on the ground.

The problem was, it was a little too late, and the wrathful Gengar wasn't in the mood to cooperate.

The other claw had pierced into one of her other tails, tearing through tissue, as Aoi let out another painful whine. That was when Caesar went for the kill. One of his most lethal combinations. Shadow claw, saturated with _deadly poison._ Artemis's favourite choice in battle. Under most circumstances, it would usually have meant the demise of the prey, in case medical aid didn't reach it in time. Had it been a regular Ninetales, it would have been whimpering in pain before finally giving up.

The problem was, Aoi wasn't just an _ordinary_ Ninetales.

For a second, she ignored the pain. For a second, she ignored the chaotic energy reacting with her own blood. For a second, nothing mattered, save her, and the foolish ghost who had prematurely attacked her without knowing _exactly_ what it was he was dealing with. For a second, the searing hot pain stood forgotten, replaced by the sheer, icy blizzard of pure vengeance.

And her tails lifted upward, spreading out into a corona behind her, as they changed colour, the vermillion on the end deepening while the lower parts gaining a deeper shade. Two of her tails were injured and leaking blood out, the blood almost invisible in the deeper crimson background, as her eyes glowed with unrestrained power.

Crimson red Vermillion was in effect.

It did not matter that Caesar was a ghost. It did not matter that ghosts were nigh invulnerable to psychic attacks. It did not matter that they were currently inside a haven with an almost incomprehensible amounts of latent ghostly energy.

And then Caesar knew _pain._

* * *

One of the major differences between ghost-type and the other types was their unique body physiology. Unlike the other types, ghosts were actually… a congregation of chaotic energies, held together by a sentience, which was often analogous to the concept of a physical mind. Of course, most ghosts developed a physical form, and some, like Dusknoir and Golurk, were literal physical behemoths, capable of physical movement and attack like the average Rhydon. Gengar, however, were different.

For a Gengar knowledgeable about the scope of its true abilities, the concept of a physical form served a singular purpose.

Deception.

A Gengar unlike most other ghost-types, was much more… effective as an incorporeal being than a corporeal one. In fact, the stronger a Gengar was, the more its proclivity to stay incorporeal at all times—that, or living in shadows. To turn itself corporeal, with a fixed shape, form and makeshift physiology put a slight strain on its person, because it needed to coordinate the innate chaotic energy through proper and well-regulated pathways. Though, it wasn't that it was completely a disadvantage, because doing so, enabled it access to a _different_ move pool that would be otherwise, inaccessible when incorporeal.

Like will-o-wisp for example.

However, being in a corporeal form also brought in, its share of weaknesses, the primary among those being that the _sentience,_ which was initially just a congregation of chaotic energy, was temporarily given a physical shell, a makeshift imitation of a brain, with the pathways connecting to it from all parts of their physical form. Any damage done to this… brain would not _kill_ a Gengar, but channel and _amplify_ the pain into all portions of the body.

In short, a central point of failure.

Case in point- Caesar felt his innate chaotic pathways tear from within as Aoi focussed her powers to amplify pain stimulations into the receptors of his brain. The fact that a psychic was able to not only grasp, but also manipulate the innate network within a ghost, was a testament to just how _scary_ the powers of CRV were, when used without any restraint. Caesar, whose favourite way of killing involved turning himself into miasma, and then pouring himself into the victim, before slowly poisoning it from within, felt pain at magnitudes several times greater than what his lethal attack would produce in a psychic on Caesar's best day.

He tried to disperse, but Aoi had his pathways under her grasp. He tried to turn into miasma, but she held a tight grip over his _sentience._ He wanted to _explode,_ to cancel out the pain, but Aoi's powers held him in place. Unable to move, unable to cry, unable to defend, unable to do anything as he felt unprecedented agony, hanging in a pseudo comatose state, with only his consciousness barely hanging in, and yet, fully comprehending that he was trapped, and there was _nothing_ he could do to escape this hell.

….

….

"Aoi!" Caesar heard the human cry out, as said human rushed up the staircase, towards the lithe creature, holding on to her, as he realized that she was gravely wounded. Almost in reaction, the creature's hold over Caesar vanished completely, allowing the Gengar to fall down to the ground, trying to disperse to counteract the pain, though only in vain. That creature… Caesar didn't know what she was, but Caesar would be damned if he let her stay alive for another second.

And he pulled himself up, the ambience lending him strength, as he raised his claws to curse the creature. She would know agony greater than what she had just imparted to him. She would only whimper for the rest of her life, while Caesar would slowly imbibe her life-force. He could almost _taste_ the lavish taste of such an exquisite- Urk!

He looked down, his convex eyes widening as he curiously observed the single paw, brimming with _void_ energy, impaled through his chest, the energies of the Void creating a far more adverse reaction to him than the psychic had done. For a moment, he wondered if it was possible to feel any more pain than what he was currently feeling.

In hindsight, he shouldn't have tempted the Gods of irony.

Pure, undiluted poison poured into him from behind, the poison only amplifying the reaction caused by the void energy percolating into his system. He would be lucky if he were _ever_ able to completely heal from such a wound, especially after what that _odd_ creature had done to him.

Caesar felt his body sag, as he slowly slid off the poisoned claw, before falling down to the wooden floor. Behind him, her left claw morphed into a _night slash,_ and coated with poison, Sylvi grinned maliciously.

She would need to thank the white-furred feline later for teaching her that attack.

* * *

Ash heard Aoi whine in pain as he felt her powers safely descend him down to the ground, her focus barely flickering despite the fact that she had been attacked by a wrathful Gengar of all pokémon. Not for the first time, he wished he hadn't been so… so… _weak,_ having to depend upon his pokémon to keep on living. Over the last four months, he could count all the times when he had been the one to aid his pokémon and not the reverse—in one hand, and have fingers left over. The reverse of it… he would have to keep counting 0n and on.

 _If I am going to become a proper trainer, then even I myself need to train to be better, be stronger. At this rate, I will simply be a weakling cheerleader for my team, and not someone they look up to._

Banishing his inner thoughts, he pushed himself off the floor, dashing upwards, past the now _trapped_ Gengar, all the way to his beloved pokémon, holding her softly as he felt her focus flicker and die. The reddish liquid on his hands could only mean one thing-he observed with widened eyes—

Blood.

Almost in instinct, he turned his head up front, barely in time to see the fallen Gengar pull himself up, his eyes glowing with vengeful malice, as his maws began to drip with a strange and sinister energy. If not for the time spent with his own Gengar, he wouldn't have known what Caesar was doing.

The Gengar was about to use Curse.

Almost instinctively, his hands coiled around Aoi, ready to pull her backwards, pushing himself forward to intercept the curse, since she was too heavy to pull away from the path of the curse in time. The least he could do was-

"Urk!"

The malicious Gengar made a lurching sound, making Ash look back at him in surprise. A single paw, belonging to some other Gengar, had impaled itself through Caesar's chest, as the malicious Gengar whimpered for a moment, before slowly sliding down and falling onto the floor, phasing through the wooden surface as he fell beneath.

Past him, stood his own Gengar, her eyes shining with an inscrutable expression, her grin in full force, and her paw dripping with dark energy- a Night slash attack, Ash realized.

"Gengar…" He hesitated.

"Gen!" Said shadow pokémon whispered back, before slowly levitating ahead towards them. Her crimson eyes glowed, as she raised her claws towards the injured tails, and began to soak up the residual ghostly energies out of Aoi's system. Of course, soaking in _foreign_ ghostly energies would naturally hurt Gengar as much as a normal shadow ball attack, but not something even remotely unbearable. Within some extremely precious and painful seconds, she had managed to extract most of residual energies into her own system, before stepping back, and dispersing. It was a rather unconventional method of getting rid of foreign and toxic substances from her system, something she had used to great extent back when she was actively battling as Ethan's pokémon. Using the old technique after so many decades felt like… a sort of _jamais vu,_ for her, as if using it for the first time.

"That was…." Ash croaked… his words dying in his throat.

"That was Sylvi's father." Agatha's voice resonated from downstairs. Ash heard her slowly walk her way through the decrepit staircase, an odd, _white-colored_ Gengar floating beside her person as she did.

"Sylvi…" Ash began apprehensively.

"Gengar!" His Gengar answered.

"Your name is… Sylvi?"

Gengar grinned.

"My father's starter. Sylvi was my favourite back then, when I lived on the island with my mother." Agatha's voice seemed cracked. "The Gengar that… from what I am told, tried to kill you, is Sylvi's father, and my grandfather Lord Artemis Ainsworth's pokémon, Caesar."

"Caesar." Ash repeated. "He almost killed me?"

Agatha almost… snorted. "Well, it was more along the lines of… try to kill you, to be precise. This house is under my command, and the residents wouldn't take it very well if my commands were broken, least of all by one of their own. Had your Ninetales not… interrupted, my brothers and sisters would have stepped in to take charge. Of course, her act was one of bravery and deep loyalty, something of great admiration. I do not, of course, minimize her sufferings, which I am sure, are severe."

Said Ninetales was currently giving a stink eye to the _barely-human_ woman that stood in front of her and her trainer.

Agatha wasn't done speaking yet. "Speaking of which, I am _very_ interested in _how exactly_ did a young man, barely fifteen, managed to acquire the allegiance of a Ninetales with command over…" Her lips twisted into a knowing smirk. "Crimson Red Vermillion."

Aoi just stared at the woman, her expression scrutinizing. From the very start, she had felt an _otherworldly gaze_ upon her, from the very moment she had stepped inside the mansion. The woman's gaze hadn't felt _any different_ at all. She had more than enough experience living in the proximity of ghost-kind over centuries to be oblivious to it.

 _Was it all just a coincidence? Or a detailed, and planned out event to make me reveal my nature?_

It _must_ have been a coincidence, but Agatha's face broke into a knowing smile almost instantly.

"Aoi is hurt. She needs medical treatment." Ash spoke up.

 _ **On the contrary, I am quite able to heal myself. Just put me in one of those heal-balls you are obsessed with.**_

Ash chuckled mirthlessly. "Very well, I'll do that." He gave Aoi a knowing look. "You are a real piece of work, you know, but thanks for saving my life."

 _ **Haven't you heard? I just… interrupted an ongoing experiment.**_

"Either way." Ash replied, a little forcefully this time.

Aoi wisely didn't bother backing her statement up, as Ash plucked out a single heal-ball out of his belt, and touched it on Aoi's temples, sucking the nine-tailed fox inside it. Then, he turned over towards Agatha. "Explain."

Said person just arched an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"You expected this to happen. Was this your way of ensuring that Gen- Sylvi would stay back regardless of her wishes?"

Agatha chortled. "My-my, such crudeness. It is so much welcome than the boring humility you displayed earlier."

"You did not answer my question." Elite Four be damned, Ash wasn't going to let anyone play with the lives of his team.

"Bah!" The old crone sighed. "No, _boy._ It was _not_ my intention to kill you or send you away in pieces. Contrary to your own deductions, it was more of the opposite."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, eyes narrowed at the woman in front of him.

"Sylvi was… conflicted, between continuing on the path to her own progress, or once again, losing herself to the flaws that my father taught her to avoid." She paused, her line of sight shifting towards the ghost standing beside the teen. "Don't give me that look, _young lady_. I remember my father teaching me that when he was alive and on the island."

"Uh… she's at least a century old." Ash wisely pointed out.

"She's a ghost, you blithering idiot." Agatha snapped. "A century of age is little more than adolescence for a Gengar. Figures why she was entranced with someone like you."

Ash felt like he should take offence on that statement, but was too mentally exhausted for that.

Agatha continued. "As I was saying, I believe Sylvi has finally learned from her mistakes. She'll be leaving with you, on completion of your tutelage. Who knows? Perhaps she might even manage to learn something new to enhance her skills."

Ash's eyes widened on hearing those words. Gengar—Sylvi wasn't going to abandon him like he had feared. She was going to be leaving with him when the time came. That line of thought brought him to the next topic-

"As far as the Tree is concerned," Agatha spat, "I must admit I am curious how you managed to keep two _extremely hostile_ ghosts with you for a period no less than three weeks, without killing yourself several times over. Is it also a secret like your method of attaining allegiance of that feisty Ninetales?"

Ash didn't rise up to that taunt.

"Nevertheless, my _sister_ took… offense at some of the Tree's insinuations. They have taken him to the graveyard for a while."

"The graveyard?" Ash suddenly remembered something Agatha had told him earlier.

" _The Tower is also connected to the entrance of a graveyard, so should you ever… find fresh, wet grass beneath your feet, you will not move, and instead, yell loudly for me."_

Agatha's eyes glinted knowingly. "A Lavender Town secret, which _stays_ in Lavender Town. I'm afraid you can't know the secret without consequences."

Ash gulped. He was curious about it, sure, but not suicidal enough to go looking for it, not with the threats upon his life. "I understand."

"Good, to know." The revenant crone grinned. "We will see each other come tomorrow morning. Retire to your room. We will begin your tutelage tomorrow."

Ash didn't need another reason to delay any longer.

* * *

 **Somewhere in Fuchsia.**

The little restaurant hardly seemed posh enough for the people using it on a daily basis, Paul mused, as he sat at a corner, stirring the contents of the hot soup in front of him with a tablespoon. When he had first conversed over the telephone, he had been incredibly skeptical about the entire thing. Then again, even the greatest philanthropists out there had hidden skeletons in their closet, skeletons which if revealed, would classify them worse than notorious serial killers. From that perspective, needing a private job done, under secrecy agreements, no questions asked, was nothing out of the blue. Hell, if things turned out right, this would probably be the best fucking deal he would have taken after arriving in Kanto.

The door opened, and a white-haired man walked in. He looked sixtyish, and wore silver framed spectacles, and gave away the aura of a calm, but raw, unrestrained brilliance. Almost instantly, their eyes met as he seemed to recognize Paul, before walking up to him. An easy smile on his face, he gripped Paul's hand in a strong and confident grip. "Paul, I presume? "

The Sinnoh native nodded with a thin smile.

"I'm told you are good at what you do, on both sides of the market. I must admit I'm rather… curious why a strong trainer like yourself is not serving the Leagues or something similar."

"Is that relevant to the context of our discussion?"

The older man smiled. "No." He pushed the other chair before occupying it, as he gave Paul his undivided attention. "Just as we spoke over the phone, I need your aid in certain… excavation-related work, and I am told you did a good job at Mount Moon prior to this."

"Wouldn't acquiring the services of archaeologists be a more viable solution?" Paul asked. "Then again, someone like you would probably have hired a hundred on a whim if that was what you wanted, which makes me wonder what exactly it is you want excavated away from prying eyes."

"Is that relevant to the context of our discussion?" The man questioned playfully.

Paul pursed his lips, unhappy of having his own words thrown back at him. "No."

The man relaxed back into his chair. "I'll be candid, Paul. The job I need done can turn out rather… dangerous, and could be life-threatening."

"Facing threats is the sort of thing people in my business do before breakfast every day."

"Not something of this type, you don't." The man snapped, pulling out a little contract form.

 _Standard confidentiality agreements._ Paul realized.

"You sign this form, and we can talk about it after that. Even if you do not agree to do it after hearing the terms and conditions, I'm offering to pay you two thousand pokedollars for… as they say, _keeping your mouth shut,_ not that the agreement would ensure anything less than that. Of course, we will discuss remuneration should you accept the job contract."

Without further delay, Paul snatched up the contract, quickly eyeing through the details, before scratching his name at the bottom of the page. "There, done."

"Earnest, and quick to decide. An admirable skill." The white-haired man observed. "I hope you would not mind me releasing my psychic to ensure us some privacy?"

Paul nodded, as the man lifted up a single pokeball, an ordinary one, Paul noted.

"Come out, Beheeyem."

The pokémon that came out seemed like a robotic mushroom at first sight, what with its large mushroom-ish head, and the various little lights on the rest of its body. Two hands protruded out on either side of the head, as the psychic-type floated in the air next to them, before its eyes glowed an eerie green, as a psychic shield erupted out of nowhere, enveloping them completely.

"Now that we are free from external ears, we can discuss this at length." The man replied, as he pushed himself ahead, giving Paul his undivided attention. "As I said, this job might… and please note, _might_ be life-threatening to you, or it might just be something… completely normal, well, as normal as an excavation can be. Whatever happens _inside_ the zone, is going to be limited to the two of us, and just the two of us, regardless of whatever happens to you or me as a result."

"And what exactly are you trying to achieve over…" Paul paused, trying to get a specific word that suited it. He finally decided on—"this event?"

"Something that might bring an irreversible and great change to our world."

Paul rolled his eyes at the overly dramatic answer. "So can you tell me what it is? If not that, then its general purpose or your own intentions regarding it? It shouldn't matter, especially specially after I have… signed the agreement."

The man frowned. "I'm afraid I can't. Importantly, I assure you it is not a matter of trust, but of plausible deniability. What I intend to do is not illegal, and last I checked, is not hurting or maiming anyone. Nevertheless, a great many people and organizations could profit from certain… nefarious uses of what I aim to uncover, and hence, the need for secrecy. If it ever becomes an issue, you have complete freedom to say that I forced you to do it on threat upon your life and career as a trainer. I shall even help you fabricate certain documents pertaining to that, should you wish."

Paul arched an eyebrow. He had met several clients over the years, but this was, hands-down, the _weirdest_ client-meet, he ever had.

"All right." He paused, drawing his breath. "About the remuneration."

"Right, I should be able to pay you sixty thousand pokedollars for your aid. You must admit, even for a complete suicide mission, that amount of money is outrageous."

Paul had a _really_ hard time trying to digest the ludicrously high sum mentioned as remuneration for his services. This man was insane, it was official. He couldn't help but wonder _just what it was,_ the man needed his aid with.

"About that," he finally spoke. "I have a counter-offer. If we are in agreement, then I am in. Else, I walk away, no strings attached."

The white-haired man arched an eyebrow. "This amount isn't satisfying enough for you?"

"On the contrary, it is more than satisfying. It is just that… I could get something… better from a person of your own position."

"Interesting." The man's eyes shone with raw curiousity. "And that is?"

Paul took out a photograph, in which a significant position was marked with red ink. "I demand twenty thousand in cash, and … _this."_

The man's eyes instantly widened with surprise. "I should have known."

Paul gave him a winning smile. "Come now, surely such a thing would be more than easy to arrange for someone of your position. Isn't that right, Mr. Stone?"

The man thought about it for a moment. "All right. I think… it can be arranged."

"Then the deal is settled. Count me in." Paul gave a head-nod.

The man got up from his chair, as they shook hands again. "If we are going to be working together, I request you to call me Derrick."

* * *

 **AN: And once again, I spectacularly failed in ending the Lavender Town Arc in a single chapter, though I am persistent, and hopefully, my** _ **attempts**_ **will have borne fruit by the next chapter. I think I will now take the moment to answer some reviews.**

 **Paul and AU? I am afraid I do not understand the context. Please PM me and we can talk about it.**

 **Big Fan, many thanks for your appreciation. As far as TM is concerned, the story would truly become** _ **way too long**_ **if I had to go through it the normal way. It would probably end up with being canon-Ash's way, you know- with Pikachu learning a single move each season? Just kidding.**

 **Cynthia realized the folly of what Lucian did in public. It is just that, after that display, it is no use hiding her own mega stone in an attempt to do damage-control and lose to Lucian.**

 **As far as the questions about Character Death. Yes, there will be character death, and then some. But don't worry, no savagery here. Well, perhaps a little bit.**

 **Ghost-lore at this time of the year. Will you believe me if I said it was happenstance? I am not Christian, and despite me being a HP-fanfic writer, it is to my eternal shame that I fucking forgot that Oct 31 is Halloween. I know, I know! However, the timing between that and the ghost-lore chapter was simply coincidental. Nothing else.**

 **The Straight Elf, thanks man. I guess that means progress on my part.**

 **SirBabs, it is going to get more insane! Stay tuned.**

 **Flamingsword108, thanks for the appreciation. I haven't read 'A demon lord's hero' yet, but will surely give it a try.**

 **No, Magnus isn't a pseudo-legendary.**

 **Trevenant… well, he is complicated. The good sort of complicated, that I love. Let's see what happens to him. To be honest, I do not know it yet myself. I will improvise something in time I suppose.**

 **The comparatively weaker team… yes, I have plans for them. In fact, one of the subtle unofficial reasons for the battle Tower event was to segregate the entire team into two groups—the experienced ones, and those that are not.**

 **Okay, that was all, I think. Please PM me if I missed someone's query or if you want to talk about the story in general. I might create a forum for discussion on the story, but such mysteries elude me for the present. And as always, please put in a review if you liked the chapter. It matters to me a lot.**


	32. Promise

"Before you can even progress to being a legitimate ghost-type trainer and not just some boy that happened to catch a ghost, you need to understand what a ghost really is, how is it different from any other of the pokémon types, and most importantly, how does it function."

Ash bobbed his head in answer, diligently hanging on to the woman's every word. After the near-disastrous event the previous day, the rest of the day had been rather un-eventful, something for which he had been extremely grateful. It must indeed be an irony considering this was Ash Ketchum, who had started on his pokémon trainer journey because of his sense of _adventure._ Or perhaps, it was just maturation sinking in, with the real-life hardships and near-death experiences he had encountered over the last couple of months.

"Have you perchance… encountered the phrase _'otherworldly one'_ in your travels so far?"

Ash suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the irony of that statement. From the very moment he had stepped on the forest of Illusions, that particular phrase had perhaps registered itself in his mind over hundreds of times, only doubling after Ash had Gengar join in with the training regimen with Alakazam. "Yes, I do." He answered. "Metagross and Alakazam use that word repeatedly when describing their interactions with Gen—Sylvi."

Agatha's lips twisted halfway, before she spoke again. "You seem to have interesting company… A Metagross _and_ an Alakazam, in addition to _that_ Ninetales. I can almost comprehend Sylvi's thought processes back then."

Actually, he had gotten Gengar and the other ghosts prior to meeting Aoi, but Ash didn't feel the need to correct the old woman about her deduction error. "Does that phrase hold any special meaning?"

Agatha looked halfway amused. "It is, considering that most humans refer to them as _ghosts,_ and by extension, think of them as 'spirits of the dead' and all that bullshit. And yet, psychics, who are much more sensitive than humans could even comprehend, refer to them as the 'otherworldly ones'."

"Not dead." Ash muttered the unspoken inference.

Agatha smiled. The child in front of her was _not_ slow, at the very least. A good sign, considering everything. He _just_ might have the chance to be a proper ghost master in time.

"Not dead." Agatha confirmed. "These… _ghosts,_ are in fact, interdimensional travellers, and are congregations of chaotic energies, given sentience by the multiverse."

Ash blinked. "Come again?"

Agatha took her words back. This teen had a long way to go before he even had a prospective chance of becoming a ghost master. "It means that they can traverse through dimensions hitherto untraveled and unexplored, and are masses of chaotic energy, only sentient and not just… energy. Do you understand?"

Ash slowly nodded his head. He did know a little bit about chaotic energy, though not more than the bare minimum of what he had been able to scour from the pokedex after capturing the ghosts on the island. "I know chaotic energy is the opposite of psychic energy."

"DUMB!" Agatha pronounced. "That is incorrect, or rather inadequate. Saying chaotic energy is the opposite of psychic energy is like saying that fire is the opposite of earth, or oil of water. It should suffice to say that chaotic energy has an adverse effect on psychic energy. The reverse… does not hold true."

It took a while for Ash to digest that statement. He had simply assumed that psychic and ghostly energies were opposite in nature. It justified the reactions that the two types often gave each other. "If that is so, then why would…?"

"Psychics hate ghosts?" Agatha finished for him, a frown marring her features. "It is easily understood. As much as I would like to deny it, psychic energy is _mostly_ constructive in nature, and forms the basis of reality as we know it. A ghost, by nature, simply serves to destabilize reality by merely _existing_ in it. For a psychic, everything that is rational and provable has worth. Ghosts on the other hand, are the conceptualization of the irrational, they are an equation with infinite solutions with none of the solutions being fully correct. To even consider a ghost as part of the reality is something that is tantamount to sacrilege in the mind of a psychic."

Ash arched an eyebrow. That was some reaction. He had never seen Agatha so… passionate about describing anything so far. "I see."

Agatha snorted. "You shouldn't be surprised at my reaction. It is merely the effect of my meets with Sabrina over several years."

"Sabrina? The psychic master of the Elite Four Sabrina?"

"Who else?" Agatha snorted again. "Sabrina abhors ghost-types so much that she wouldn't even teach ghost-type moves to her pokémon, not even her Elite-team. One can only imagine how _spicy_ the Elite Four meets are when we meet face to face."

Ash arched an eyebrow. Even to someone like him, that sounded way too extreme for a reaction. Then again, Sabrina was a world-renowned psychic. Perhaps the prejudices of the psychic community affected her too strongly as well.

"I… was hoping to challenge her after I leave Lavender Town." He admitted.

"Best to delay that for a few days after you leave this town. If she even caught a whiff of the Lavender Town _scent_ in you, she'd show you no mercy." The old woman deadpanned.

Ash wasn't sure if he should be excited or traumatized at that.

"But I digress. The reason I mention about chaotic energy and other dimensions is to drive the point home that the _ghost-type_ is not only a different pokémon _type,_ but also, they are _not_ of this world. Ghosts come into the mortal world seeping through other dimensions and they leave via similar pathways as well. Wild ones do it with higher frequency than the more tamed ones." Agatha paused before continuing, "So understand this when I tell you, do not think that you can train a ghost like any other pokémon."

"Uh… could you give me some examples to that?"

Agatha nodded. "A specific instance is their reaction to sunlight, boy. Sunlight, especially strong sunlight, has an adverse effect on the ghost-type. It is not really clear why, but it sure is one of the chief reasons why these pokémon are called _ghosts._ It fits in with the fantasy you see."

"So ghost types have nothing to do with the dead?"

"Not… exactly. While the truth of afterlife is a closely guarded secret, it is well-documented that after death, a person or pokémon's soul passes away into _some dimension._ However, a ghost can, with enough power and resources, _hypothetically speaking,_ bring back a soul from this dimension, or afterlife, and place them back into the host body."

Ash sat gawking at her. After what seemed like eternity, he opened his mouth. "That's not possible."

Agatha laughed. "And pray tell, why is this… impossible?"

"Because… because if that would have been the case, surely people would be resurrected after their deaths. But I have never heard about anyone getting resurrected like that." He didn't want to think about the people who had lost their lives back at the St. Anne cruise.

"That's… not true, boy. Resurrection is indeed possible, though it extracts a heavy toll."

"And how do you know that for sure?" The teen challenged back.

"Because the proof is literally sitting in front of you." Agatha replied with a simple smile on her face.

….

….

….

"You… you're joking, right?" Ash felt the eeriness of the mansion around him increase by several magnitudes. He couldn't explain it, but he was _sure_ that suddenly, he felt like a thousand different entities were staring at him, their eyes tracking his every single twitch, every single breath, and every single movement.

"I'm not." Agatha replied calmly. "Around nineteen years ago, there was an incident regarding an ancient Claydol about the size of a fully-grown Gyarados in Johto." She smirked as she saw the glazed look on the boy's face. "Yes, you are not the only one who has had the privilege, or should I say, misfortune to meet a King Pokémon."

"I thought that the King's nature was only limited to the seven dragon kings." Ash blurted out.

Agatha's eyes glinted. "Ah, so you _already_ know that. Has anyone ever told you that for a trainer not even a year into your journey, you are _dangerously_ well-informed?"

Ash wisely kept his mouth shut. Luckily for him, the ghost mistress didn't think it worthy to dive deeper into the issue.

"Yes, King's nature exists for almost each and every kind of type. Though… it is incredibly rare to even hear about the existence of a King Pokémon, forget meeting one. I was incredibly unfortunate to be on the wrong side of a King Claydol."

Ash gulped. He hadn't had the chance to face a Claydol in person, but he knew how devastatingly powerful they were in battle. To be battling one was… incomprehensible to him at the moment. The only reason he had survived his encounter with King Dragonite was simply because the King had willed it.

"I can sense the fear in you, boy. Good. Good. Always fear, Ash Ketchum. It is a powerful motivator, but never let it control your actions." Agatha spoke in a nostalgic tone. "I'm told that you have a mega-evolved flying type. A rather significant achievement, I commend you on that."

"I had nothing to do about that. Mewtwo forced my Pidgeot to mega-evolve permanently. It might have been for better, but Mewtwo forced her to do that without her approval. I had nothing to do about it, and could do nothing to stop it either."

"Do not bother over events beyond your control, boy. It is a good way to avoid depression," She paused, before chuckling, "or so I am told."

Ash almost grinned at that. "About that Claydol."

"The Claydol, yes. I too, share a form of… bond with my brothers and sisters, or specifically, _them_." The moment she muttered the words, her shadow flickered to life, reforming back into the Gengar who had defeated Dusclops earlier. Her left eye began to glow ominously, before a thin, dark thread shot out of it, reforming into a second Gengar. More surprisingly, her walking staff seemed to twist and contort, before turning into a pale white color, before reforming into a third Gengar, only this one was a pale white color, instead of the usual purple.

"A… shiny Gengar?" Ash couldn't help himself. He was in no way, even remotely able to sense innate power in creatures, but there was something in the three Gengar in front of him, that gave him an urge to run away from the mansion as swiftly as possible, never to return. It was like staring at Derrick's Metagross for the very first time, all over again.

"My brothers Anghus and Arawn," Agatha introduced, "and my sister Aithne. My bond with them goes far beyond the accepted limits, even for ghost masters. I am them and they are me."

Ash had an inward feeling that he was missing something extremely significant about that statement, and that it would not be a good idea to inquire on that particular point.

"During periods of extreme crisis, I am able to… shall we say, forge a stronger connection with my siblings than is normal, to grant them… passage and heighten their powers."

"Like Mega evolution?" Ash couldn't help but ask.

"I do not need any mega stones, if that is what you are asking." Agatha answered. "My bond is with them, and I can transcend them to higher forms, enable to them attain the true powers that they are capable of, free from any and all restrains." Agatha paused again. "During the battle with the Claydol, I was able to transcend them to their primal states all at once. It extricated a heavy toll… which I paid with my own life."

Silence pervaded the entire room.

"And then my siblings brought me back."

…

Ash sat gaping at her.

…

"Back from the…. You mean…?"

Agatha smiled dangerously.

…

…

"Gen—Gengar can do that?" He asked weakly.

Agatha painfully smiled. "Mind you, boy. It took the power of not one, but three Gengar, all of them in their primal states, to bring my soul back from the afterlife… and to this date, my siblings act as wardens, _trapping_ my soul in this mortal shell, till I am ready to pass on."

Ash didn't know what to say. Scratch that, he didn't even know what to think. The more cynical part of his mind was begging him to consider everything he had just heard as a lie. He opened his mouth to speak something, then closed it back again. Then, he repeated the entire thing once over.

Agatha chortled. "Either way, as I said, it was an unnatural incident and an unusual set of circumstances. Suffice to say, it is not an easily replicable feat." She glanced at the befuddled trainer sitting in front of him. "Now, back to the main context."

Ash couldn't help but bob his head silently.

"Back to the issue with sunlight," Agatha uttered the last word distastefully, as if the mere mention of the word tasted like bad egg to her. "A ghost is extremely vulnerable to harsh sunlight. However, if you have the fantastic idea that making your ghost _train_ in harsh sunlight to enable her adapt to it, I'd advise you to drop the possibility immediately. You will only _harm_ and cause your ghosts pain with that, nothing else."

"But training against their weaknesses is the way to get rid of them." Ash refuted.

"Not for ghosts, you don't." Agatha snapped. "Ghosts are not like the other types out there, boy. Stop thinking of them like one. You can only increase their strengths, and teach them to _escape_ when faced with factors they are vulnerable to, not fight them. A ghost battles with trickery, deceit, deception and cunning. Stop thinking of them as rock types in Vapor form."

Ash felt considerably chastised at his mistake. He would have to keep that in mind in the future.

"As for the offensive part, that is where I might have something to teach you. Sylvi knows it, but her lacklustre performance at the Battle Tower was enough to convince me that she has forgotten more than half of what she was skilled at, before losing her head after… father died."

The teen would forever remember this day as the one time in his life when he had seen a G _engar_ look chastened. A fact he would never, even in the coming years of his life, ever, ever be able to convince _anyone_ of.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Miasma." Agatha answered. "The perfect form of an adult Gengar, well into her power. A powerful Gengar can will her corporeal form to disperse into fumes, at the same time, still maintaining control over all her powers. That is Miasma."

Ash suddenly remembered the large Gengar dispersing into fumes and entering Dusclops. An extremely lethal move, to be honest.

"Gengar are, as you might know, formed of chaotic energy and poison. Should Sylvi be able to gain mastery over Miasma, then she can disperse and reform as many times as she wishes. It goes without saying that mastery over Miasma renders a Gengar _complete immunity_ over Explosion. In fact, you must remember how Anghus used Explosion in combination with Miasma and Venoshock to tear your Dusclops from the inside out."

Ash silently bobbed his head. He had played that scene in his mind over and over the previous day.

"Suffice to say, with mastery over Miasma, very few things out there can actually pose a threat to a Gengar, especially when you consider the vast move pool that they have that can be used in combination with it. And that is not counting trick moves like Destiny Bond."

"Wait." Ash spoke up, before quickly realizing that his tone was uncalled for. "Sorry, I let my mind run off too fast." He stared at the woman. "Destiny bond means that Gengar has to faint as well for it to work."

"Irrelevant." Agatha waved it away. "The mind losing hold of the corporeal body for a calculable time period is enough to be classified as fainting. A Gengar can faint over and over for fun's sake and not bat an eye."

Ash gaped at her like a Magikarp, much to her amusement. "How do I teach her Miasma?"

'You cannot." Agatha scoffed. "It requires years of diligence and education to grasp the nitty-gritties of a complex topic like Miasma. That, will be taught to Gengar by my siblings for the course of the next couple of days of your stay at the mansion. I assume that won't be a problem?"

The teen shook his head. The previous day's incident and Agatha's spooky reincarnation be damned, he would be insane if he missed the chance to learn something as _undeniably awesome_ as Miasma. Then a nasty question entered his head.

"Uhm… don't take this the wrong way, but if Miasma's that powerful, does that make Gengar the most powerful pokémon out there?"

Agatha snorted. "I should have seen that coming." She snorted again. "No, _Ketchum._ As good as Miasma is, it is not without its own share of disadvantages. For one, in Miasma stage, Gengar's body holds properties _very similar_ to ominous wind. Do you know any properties of ominous wind that might hold a problem?"

"Fire." Ash was surprised at _just_ how quick the answer came to him. It was almost like he knew it and had the answer ready at his lips.

"Correct." Agatha pursed her lips. "Speaking from personal experience?"

Ash swallowed, wondering if he should reveal the information. Then again, considering that the Elite four mistress had shared her own personal history, and beside everything else, she was aiding him, he decided that she deserved a certain modicum of trust. "I… In the forest of illusions, Pidgeot used a combination of…. Ominous wind, and twister. And then, a Magmortar threw a fire blast at it. The outcome was… devastating."

"Ominous wind and fire blast…" Agatha mused. "A good combination. Perhaps you could try teach a fire move to your Pidgeot should it eventually master ominous wind itself."

Ash nodded gratefully.

"Either way, because of its innate properties, Gengar cannot utilize Will-o-wisp in her Miasma state, since it would simply light herself and explode her inside out, causing her serious damage. The same goes for the opponent using Fire type moves on a Gengar Miasma. Needless to say, you do not use Miasma when facing a fire type _at all."_

That made sense. Considering that most fire types could utilize sunny day as well, it was an overall bad idea to use Gengar for battling fire types. Nothing to worry about, since he could always use rock types or even better water types against the fire types.

"But how do I understand how to use a particular ghost to the best of its ability? Trevenant is not Gengar, and then there is Dusclops after she's healed. Also, I might just end up catching a fourth ghost in my team in the future. I cannot understand how to realize how to train every ghost in their own specific ways, like Miasma for Gengar and-"

"Take a breath, boy." Agatha replied, her tone amused. "It would be a matter of great shame if you died in a haunted mansion because of speaking too quickly… a shameful matter for the ghosts indeed."

Ash flushed in embarrassment. "What I mean is… how do I get from here to there?" He asked, using animated gestures to point towards himself first, and then towards the ghost mistress.

The revenant crone arched an eyebrow. "How did you manage to end up an Intermediate-level trainer?"

"By winning up to the…." Ash stopped midway, realizing that he was answering it _wrong_. "Studying and practice, me and my team."

Agatha shrugged.

 _Oh._ Ash realized with a tinge of embarrassment, that he had answered his own question.

* * *

 **Five days later…**

Ash stood in front of the inner courtyard of the Ainsworth mansion, ready to set off to continue his journey. In front of him, standing on the doorstep, stood the Ghost Mistress of the Elite Four, Agatha. Over the week, he had developed a form of camaraderie with the old woman, or whatever that stood for when dealing with someone like Agatha. On his either side, stood Aoi and Gengar, the latter having an extra-large grin on her face, and for the first time, Ash knew that the grin was real, and demonstrated the happiness that Gengar was feeling.

Over the week, Ash had diligently incorporated every single sentence that Agatha had taught him about the ghost-type in general, and Gengar in particular. The old crone had _literally_ put him in the midst of several ghosts, with each of them emanating chaotic energies, so that he could learn to sense chaotic energy. The start had been rather extenuating, but he had persevered, and ignored the pains he had felt in his nerves, with the constant seepage of chaotic energy into his body. Considering that even Aoi felt a little… displeased to be in close quarters with him, he supposed that he had truly imbibed significant amounts of chaotic energy.

The positive side was that he had developed a rudimentary ability to sense chaotic energy nearby. Nothing too fancy, for even the weakest Abra could sense it better than him, but he could do so more than say… a normal-type pokémon. The other benefit was that the procedure introduced him to dozens of ghost pokémon, a significant benefit.

"I must say, boy. I don't know if you have the capability to be a ghost master, but you sure are on your way to becoming an acceptable ghost-trainer, and believe me, that is _significant_. The number of prospective ghost-trainers known to me, can be counted in one hand." Agatha praised.

Ash rubbed the back of his head, still having trouble accepting praise. "Who are they?"

"Well, there is Morty, the gym leader of Ecruteak city in Johto. If you ever go there, do meet him and face him in a battle. I'm curious how your skills would stand against someone like him. Morty isn't a Master yet, but he is quite close."

"And the others?"

Something akin to amusement spread on Agatha's face. "A man named Alexander Rothsvale. He's not a Master, but rather a generalist of sorts. People tend to look down on generalists, but take heed of my words, over time, a generalist has the potential to become multiple type masters, something that type masters can never achieve."

Ash nodded his head. Cynthia was a generalist too, and the _only_ generalist Champion in the world. He was quite sure that in time, Cynthia would become the first multiple type master and shock the world. However, there was one more thing that interested him in her statement.

"Rothsvale." He repeated slowly.

Agatha arched an eyebrow. "Heard of that name?"

"… In passing. Nothing more." Ash denied. "Is it important?"

The revenant crone shook her head. "No. Alexander Rothsvale is a winner of both the Indigo Conference _and_ the Lily-of-the-Valley Conference in Sinnoh. Is a known practitioner of the _psychic-link,_ and is perhaps the closest you can get for a _psychic and ghost master_ in the world, though he hasn't yet acquired a formal degree in either. Has two pseudo-legendaries at his command, a Dragonite and a… Salamence, and has a history with Legendaries." She paused. "It might be redundant for me to say so, Ketchum, but you _awfully remind_ me of Rothsvale a lot."

Ash had an odd sensation that Agatha had just played a joke on him, and he had been unable to comprehend it. Choosing to ignore it as another one of the woman's silly antics, he nodded his head. "I will."

"Good." The woman chuckled, before coughing heavily, her voice raspy. "There are two more things I need to talk about, before you are free to leave this mansion for good, and I better not see you loitering around this place in the near future."

The teen rolled his eyes but said nothing. With the exception for purchasing his meals, Ash had spent the entirety of the week inside the confines of the mansion. In fact, he had the eerie feeling that he had turned slightly paler than he used to be. "…sure."

"The first is this." She took out a thick wad of papers, which on closer look, seemed like a collection of hand-written manuscripts, written in thin, slanted handwriting. "This belonged to my father, and is perhaps… one of the only things I got from him. It contains his notes on Miasma. It has served me well, and I hope it does the same for you."

"Wait-" Ash looked flabbergasted, as he blankly took the wad of documents in his shaking hands. "You are giving me… I mean…"

"My father's notes on ghost pokémon, his journal and research collected over a decade of his training with ghosts." Agatha replied. "It has helped me a lot in my own journey to become a ghost Mistress myself. I think it would be selfish of me… to not impart the notes to my father's pokémon, no matter if she is serving under a different trainer." She looked up, looking squarely at Ash. "Mind you, this is only on Gengar and Miasma."

Complaining about it was perhaps the last thing in Ash's mind. This… this was a veritable gold chest in his hands, the research on Miasma written by a ghost master, and now it was Ash's own for the taking. "Are you… are you sure?"

"Do not question my generosity, boy." Agatha returned, her voice slightly cold. "Just accept my judgement."

"Thank you." He replied gratefully. "I'll not disappoint you."

"It is not me you should be worries about disappointing, boy." The old crone countered. "But I digress. The second thing that I wanted to talk about… is this." She took out what Ash realized was a heal-ball. Without further delay, she clicked on the release button, as red light inundated in front of Ash, who found himself facing the ominous red eyes, and the familiar brown wooden frame.

Trevenant.

Almost instantaneously, Sylvi hissed, venom clear in her voice. Even Aoi looked alert, and subconsciously, Ash had taken a couple of steps backward. He knew that Trevenant had run into some… disagreements with Sylvi, and had been taken away by the other ghosts of the mansion, but that had been the last he had heard of the elder tree ghost. If he were honest with himself, he had thought that Trevenant was a lost cause, and that he would be leaving without it.

In hindsight, he might have been a little too hasty over making that decision.

"Trevenant." Ash replied slowly, his sharp eyes taking in the elder tree's form. Of course, Trevenant looked completely fine, but he had enough experiences with the ghost to know that _something_ had changed about him.

Ghosts were peculiar like that.

"I suppose you wish to stay back at this mansion."

"Tre….?" The elder tree drawled out, surprised, before glancing at the Ninetales, who returned a suspicious look at him in return.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked, more to Aoi than in general.

"Trevenant has… for lack of a better word, a _change of heart."_ Agatha replied with a throaty voice, before coughing again. "It intends to go with you."

 _And now I have seen everything._ The more cynical part of the teen's mind mocked. Though, despite his inner thought-process, he couldn't help but wonder _what in hell_ happened with Trevenant to make him… well, this.

"Trever… Trevenant!" The elder tree repeated, this time looking squarely at Ash in the face. Only this time, there was no hostility, merely doubt and suspicion. It was almost as if Trevenant was expecting Ash to do something that would prove it right.

"Trevenant had, as you know, a bad start with the residents of the mansion, and after the time spent with them, he has come to the… conclusion that training with a human is quite… conducive to his future."

Translation: Trevenant bad-mouthed about humans in front of the ghosts, and they decided to show the elder tree exactly _how_ training under a _human_ aided them. And that had been what Trevenant had been going through over the week.

Ash shook his head, half-frustrated and half-disappointed. Of course, it wasn't like he was feeling bad for Trevenant suffering over the week, considering that the elder tree had literally brought it onto himself. He was simply disappointed that Trevenant had been so… unruly despite everything Ash had tried to reach out to him. And now, the most probable situation was that the tree had been bullied by the ghosts to re-join him.

That was when he made his call.

"Trevenant… I am offering you a chance of returning back to the forest."

The elder tree pokémon just stood there, dumbfounded. It was official now. He would never understand this boy.

"… I know that I trespassed into the forest, which was your domain, and I captured you against your will. However, I have tried multiple times to make you understand that I only aim to aid you to become stronger, and powerful. It is rather unfortunate that despite all of this… you refuse to even comprehend that I am, despite being a human, only thinking about your _own good._ I do not know why you wish to come with me now, but if it is to escape the ghosts of this mansion, then just tell me…" He paused. "I will arrange for your transport back to the Forest of Illusions."

Aoi gave him a transfixed stare, as if unable to comprehend his words. _**What are you-?**_

"I have made my decision." Ash replied heavily. "I thought that with time, you would understand that I meant what I said, and that was why I made it a point to release you and Sylvi every night, but you only wanted to try separate her away from me and my team. So yes, I am tired. Tired of trying to justify myself."

Trevenant stood, staring blankly at him.

Ash held up the ultra-ball, the same one that he had captured Trevenantwith in the first place. "Regardless of what might have happenedwith you, I give you an offer. Do you wish for me to send you back to the forest?"

* * *

The forest of Illusions in Mirage Archipelago, always gave birth to Phantump, and it did so in sublime quantities. The reason for that wasn't really clear, both to the residents of the forest, as well as the human tribes that lived along the periphery to practice their Hoothoot rearing business. As long as Trevenant could remember, he had always let the little owl pokémon go free, unaffected, and instead, consumed the souls of the trainer unfortunate enough to encounter him.

Then, he encountered Ash Ketchum and his team, and surprisingly, he ended up being on the losing side and had been forcibly captured in one of those infernal devices the humans used to capture wild and free pokémon. He could still remember the rage boiling in him when released out of the device for the first time, and facing the void users who were attacking him. Trevenant had decided that the human would pay for his deeds by a drawn out, painful death. But then that black draconic creature, and more importantly, the Queen Gengar herself had come to the rescue. Bottom line. The human had been saved.

His stay with the human and his team had hit a point home. The human was weak and easy to kill and maim, his team, not so much. A direct rebellion would be put down with ease, but a slow but steady manipulation could go a long way.

That was why he had gotten rid of his rage and instead, chosen for indifference. The human had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.

Trevenant had gotten to interact with Gengar a lot that week and had done his best to understand her own aim and motivations. The moment he came to know that they were heading towards a haunted mansion that used to be Gengar's original home, he had set forth in his plan to push a wedge between her and the human by incepting suspicion and second thoughts in the shadow pokémon's mind, about how staying with her kin was the better idea. Considering Gengar's predisposition, he had almost considered himself successful.

Only to watch it fail and shatter in front of his own eyes. The Queen, on whom he had such hopes running, had been nothing but an over bloated disappointment. Trevenant had lost control over his own emotions and lashed out at her, calling her weak for her submission to humans for personal growth.

In hindsight, it hadn't been the best idea, considering that they were inside a mansion ruled by a human.

That ridiculously powerful Gengar and her gang of ghosts had dragged him down through the floors, past several dimensions and planes, into what had seemed to be some kind of graveyard to his sight, though on closer analysis, it was an inter-dimensional relay centre of sorts, through which ghosts could enter and leave the mortal plane at will, with an illusion of an ever-expansive graveyard with fresh, dewy wet grass in a twilight sky.

Ghosts with a sense of humour.

This was where he had made his last stand towards his fellow ghosts, trying to make them understand how _they_ were beyond _humans,_ who were simply their prey and nothing more. The residents had retaliated back with a challenge for battle, and battle he did, if only in hope that should he turn out victorious, he could settle in as the new ruler of the mansion, and command over the relay center.

It had taken less than forty seconds for his hopes to be shattered to dust.

The ghosts hadn't fought, they had _played_ with him. Every single attack he had made had been easily countered, and they had _laughed. Laughed_ at him for being so predictable, so limited and so easily countered. He hadn't the foggiest idea how long he had spent in that graveyard, trying to subdue the ghosts and ending up making a mockery of his own skills, since it felt like eternity. Back at the forest, he had been the chief defender. But here?

The last conscious thought he had had in his mind was a simple question.

 _Would I have been just as powerful as them if I had consented to the human's directions?_

* * *

Aoi stared at her trainer, their minds trying to comprehend _why_ Ash had changed tracks like this. Of course, anyone with two eyes could have sensed that Ash had no love lost for Trevenant, since the elder tree had only tried to maim and murder him every single chance it had gotten. But despite that, Ash had not given up. He simply wasn't the type to give up on someone.

And then, as if looking through a kaleidoscope that had suddenly come into focus, Aoi _understood._ Ash wasn't doing it out of anger, or out of a sense of betrayal. He hadn't given up on Trevenant either. It was simply what he was, right in the core of his beliefs. She remembered what he had spoken earlier about Gengar on his first day at the mansion.

 **" _I am striving to ensure that my team is able to fulfil their own desires. Perhaps, in aiding them to their own dreams, I might find a purpose for my own."_**

Ash had subconsciously _accepted_ that it was for Trevenant's highest good that he be sent back to the Forest, since despite all his advances and attempts, it seemed Trevenant was just _not made_ to be tamed and taught. He was a wild element, who would suffer and get strangled in the wild, but not deviate from his innate core beliefs.

And that was why Ash had decided to fulfil that desire. It was his duty as Trevenant's trainer, whether the Tree accepted it or not.

Aoi turned to face the elder tree pokémon, who stared back at Ash with a gobsmacked expression on his face. For the first time in her life, Aoi hoped that the elder tree would make a good decision for itself.

* * *

Trevenant stared at the boy— _his trainer—_ in incomprehension. For weeks, he had tried to establish fear in the boy's heart, and tried to establish himself as the dominant one between them. He had failed spectacularly in both. He remembered the boy's words from back then.

 ** _"Listen here. I caught you. My team beat you. Multiple times. But you do not seem to grasp that fact, so I will make it easier for you. Today onwards, I am going to release you every single day. Every single day you will try to kill me, and every single day my team will wipe the floor with you. Either you can do that, or you can just stop being disagreeable and join me."_**

Of course, Trevenant had not stopped being disagreeable. He just had a question to be answered. A question, or rather… a doubt that had engulfed his mind. Would he have been better off under the brat's training? Was that the way?

Never in his life had he wanted an answer so desperately. So desperate, that he was willing to do _anything_ the boy said, _any amount_ of training as the boy declared appropriate, and then by the end of it, measure his own strength. Of course, he would be happiest if the entire thing came to _nothing_ in the end, since that would prove that Trevenant was right from the very beginning.

He was better off with his own kin than with humans.

And in a cruel twist of fate, when he wanted to associate with the boy more than anything else, the boy was offering him freedom—freedom to return back to the wild, the same freedom for which he had caused so much turmoil, the same freedom for which he had made his stand.

And the boy was giving it away as if it meant nothing.

Trevenant _yelled_ out in righteous fury.

* * *

Ash subconsciously stepped back as Trevenant _roared,_ expecting the Tree to attack him all over again. A part of him couldn't help but wonder why the Tree was showing such a reaction, especially when he was finally setting it free. Their relationships are warped—Aoi's words came to his mind. Of course, he would have liked nothing better than have Trevenant become an active member of his team, but it was better this way.

Trevenant though, had other ideas.

With animated gestures and roars, Trevenant yelled out his frustrations at the boy, staring at the boy's countenance as he yelled out what he wanted, what he expected and what he intended to do from now on. The boy, as expected, could not understand him, but from the smirk on that feline's face, it seemed someone was having fun at his expense. He turned to the feline and requested him to translate it for the human, knowing that the psychic fire-type had the ability to do that.

Unable to comprehend what the tree was so passionate and enraged about, Ash naturally turned to Aoi for translation.

 _ **He intends to know, that should he listen to your commands, would he be able to become strong enough to defeat the residents of the mansion?**_

The teen arched an eyebrow. He had certainly not expected this kind of development. Not for the first time, his mind wondered what in hell Trevenant went through at the mansion for this kind of shift in his personality. Keeping his queries to himself, he turned towards the elder tree.

"I… cannot promise you that you'd be able to defeat the residents of this mansion, not now. Now ever. The residents are extremely powerful, and have been training and growing under the tutelage of a ghost mistress and Elite Four. If you really wish to grow stronger and quickly, you'd have better chances at that staying here with the others."

Trevenant paled at the suggestion.

"However, I can promise you, that if you come with me, and become an active part of my team, then you will be able to make a better stand than what you did this time around." Ash finished, staring at the elder tree in the eye. If that seems like a worthy goal to you, then you are welcome to join the team." He lifted up the ultra-ball again, bringing it closer to Trevenant's face.

After what seemed to be an eternally long time, the elder tree let out a snort, before knocking the ultraball with his head, as the device opened, capturing him into itself with a brilliant flash of red light.

"That was… interesting." Agatha intoned. "Speaking of you, boy, when you are done acquiring all the badges you need for the conference, and have time to spare, come in for a visit. Anghus would like a match with you, and hopefully, your Dusclops would be rendered _proper_ enough to be returned as well."

Ash smiled. "I promise."

"Good." The woman returned. "Now get lost from my property."

* * *

Saffron city is without a doubt, one of the three main megalopoli that dominate the commercial atmosphere of the entirety of Kanto region, the two others being Celadon in the east and of course, Cerulean city due south. The first path involves traversing the famous and incredibly busy route 8, the preferred route for most travellers, with good transport facilities, occasional pokémon centers and the overall small-town experience. The only disadvantage is to using Route 8 is the fact that it loops over and over, to the point of almost touching the periphery of celadon city before entering Saffron. The only other alternative to travel through the so-called Saffron forest, a marshy zone that exists between Lavender Town and Saffron, bordering a stone-covered boulevard on the right. Said forest, incidentally, receives the highest amount of annual rainfall recorded in entire Kanto region, a rather queer fact considering that not even Evolution Mountain, which provides a rather effective resistance to the passing clouds, causing torrential downpour in Fuchsia, has at most two-thirds of the rainfall that this marshy wasteland seems to experience all year.

This alternative route provides a person to travel from Lavender to Saffron in mere two days, compared to route 8, which takes a whopping five days for the same. Yet, the area is nigh desolate, and uninhabited by people, and instead, is covered with dense, deciduous outgrowth, and is home to hundreds of tree-dwelling terrestrial pokémon—the obvious danger of swamps providing an automatic barrier that keeps these tree-dwellers from being active hunted or poached. Also, the entire zone is prone to several, random… _explosions_ , though the cause isn't really clear.

Around nine years ago, after _dozens_ of cascading failures, an expedition sponsored by Silph Co. succeeded in unravelling the mystery that lay in this juxtaposition of marshy swamps next to the rocky, arid plain. The truth, they found out the hard way, was stranger than fiction.

Somewhere deep within the layers of impervious rock, was the home to the world's one of, if not the only _natural fission reactor_ on the planet, an entire mine of radioactive mineral-rich deposits. Normally this wouldn't mean anything, simple ore, even the giant slabs found on route 8, did not fulfil the specific requirements for a controlled chain reaction. However, as the researchers found out, the constant rainwater permeating the ground dripped down into this uranium seam and providing for an excellent neutron moderator. As the porous rock got waterlogged the neutrons created by the natural fission could travel slow enough to split other atoms near them. And so, as long as it rained, a slow chain reaction took place, heating the ground and the water flowing through.

Yet, nature does not waste anything. Even this hidden radioactive mine, with its underground tunnels - washed out by centuries of water flowing through - was host to several dozens, if not _hundreds_ of a single species of pokémon.

Voltorb, and their evolved form, Electrode, where misunderstood pokémon. Even though the scientific community had long ruled out the idea of them being linked to Pokeballs in any way, the rumour that this species was first discovered in Pokeball plants was believe from the average Trainer down to the housewife. It was more likely that standard Pokeballs colour design was inspired by Voltorb, but that clearly didn't matter to most people.

The modern understanding of the Voltorb line however suggested that the unique colouring of these pokémon was a visual representation of magnetic poles that formed in a Voltorb or Electrode. Magnetic field measurements proved this theory and shed light on the way these pokémon navigated.

Any type of doubt about the Voltorb lines origins was washed away however after the Silph Co. expedition found a small entrance to a few of the underground tunnels underneath route 8. The squad was dumbfounded when they realized that this environment was habitat of perhaps the largest community of Voltorb and Electrode on the planet. Even more amazing however was there appearance. Each and every Voltorb and Electrode they had managed to spot had been a _shiny_ one, and even more interestingly, seemed to be soaking in the _thermal energy_ provided by the natural fission. The full scope of their mutations was never fully understood, out of fear that interfering with them could cause chain explosions that would destroy the tunnels and losing everyone was however speculated that these electric types, used _Rain Dance_ to increase the amount of fission that was possible, which explained the unusual rainfall distribution in the region.

Of course, it was imperative that such an ecological niche held several potential benefits to be reaped, but it was vivid that tampering with such a fragile system could result in a potential catastrophe. However, that didn't change the fact that Silph Co. had a natural renewable source of power- mind boggling power, available to be used as it liked.

That was how, three years later, the Ultraball Technology division, with its top-secret manufacturing base located in the sea just next to the stone boulevard had begun its production. The entire base was built underwater, at a location close enough to harness the power being produced in the natural fission reactor, by capturing the underground water that flowed in this direction. Hot water in abundance made for cheap energy. The power generated made the mass-creation of Ultraballs a possibility, after almost fifteen years of it lying dormant, for lack of a feasible power source. Of course, all of this was a complete secret, and fear of the tree-dwelling terrestrial pokémon in the marshy lands made the entire area free from any form of outer interference. In fact, Silph Co. did its best to spread several notorious rumours about the entire place, to further increase its desolation and complete lack of human habitation.

Unfortunately, neither the fifteen-year-old trainer from Pallet Town, nor his pokémon, were privy to therumours, nor did they have any idea about the true secret hidden in the marshy areas hidden in the Saffron forest.

* * *

After leaving Lavender Town, Ash had made a quick call to Professor Oak's lab, letting his mother and the professor know about the events that had transpired there. He had, of course, conveniently forgotten to mention that he had, once again, _almost died_ at the hands of a fellow pokémon at that, but he had asked for some particular members of his team to be sent to him—namely, the dark types—Absol and Crawdaunt, the dragons—Magnus, Shelgon and Zweilous, and lastly, Poliwhirl, before deciding to walk his way to Saffron city through the Saffron forest.

The decision had been due to three main reasons. Firstly, Agatha had advised to walk his way to Saffron city, to allow the ambient ghostly energy he had soaked, to leech out into the atmosphere. Considering that the other alternative was to take the overtly busy Route 8, Ash had settled for the Saffron forest.

Secondly, the forest was rumoured to contain several fighting-type pokémon. Ash had been… enthusiastic to capture one for his own team, which had a large, fighting-type sized hole in it. More importantly, he had seen the advertisement of the 'P1 Grand Prix' - a regional level wrestling competition where trainers could register and battle other participants. There were only two rules of the contest—one, only a fighting-type (or a part fighting-type) could be registered for the contest, and two- only fighting-type moves were allowed to be used. The current Grand Prix was going to be held in Celadon in around a month's time, and Ash certainly didn't want to miss the chance to participate in it. After all, the winner of a P1 Grand Prix event got a chance to battle the formidable Bruno, Elite Four and Master of fighting-type pokémon.

The third and last reason, was because it would give him the privacy tofulfil a promise he had made to hisfavourite tadpole, sometime prior to the events of the Battle Tower.

* * *

" _ **Poliwhirl… I know I should have told you something much earlier. You see, when you helped me defeat Misty's sisters and get me the Cascade badge, she… she gave me this." He took out the aquiline pearl-like rock and revealed it in front of the tadpole, whose eyes seem to be transfixed at it.**_

 _ **Ash chuckled. He knew that for a species like Poliwhirl, a water-stone was a relic to be awed at, respected and held with great respect. After all, holding a water-stone was the symbol that it was granted enough power and ability to evolve further to become the powerful Poliwrath, whose bulky muscles held in them enough sheer strength to swim past oceans.**_

" _ **The question is… do you wish to evolve? Personally, I'd have liked to teach you some more skills before consenting for evolution, but I want you to make the choice."**_

 _ **Poliwhirl stared at his trainer with something akin to deep respect and awe, as if he were staring at Ash for the first time. It was… surreal. Ash had expected Poliwhirl to troll around, throw water jets at unsuspecting team-mates and should he be given the chance, vanish off to swim in a nearby water body. The look that Poliwhirl was giving him was…**_

 _ **Different.**_

" _ **Poli…" The tadpole croaked after a while, taking a few steps back, not once taking his eyes off from the water stone. "Poli—Poliwhirl!"**_

" _ **He wishes for you to make the decision for him." Aoi supplied.**_

 _ **Ash smiled brightly. "Then… let's get the Battle Tower done with, prior to that. What do you say?"**_

 _ **Poliwhirl croaked happily.**_

* * *

Of course, the outcome of the Battle Tower had left Poliwhirl severely weak and needing nourishment and rest. Besides, Ash had been _forced_ to send him, along with the others—away for the brief period he had resided at the mansion. Now that he was out, and had gotten Poliwhirl back, it was time to fulfil a promise.

That was why he had made it a point to call in Poliwhirl. His own luck at capturing a fighting-type aside, it would give Poliwhirl ample time to get used to his own move set after evolution into Poliwrath. Whether Poliwhirl (then Poliwrath) would consent to battling at the contest or not was something he could worry about later.

He had taken up the path through the Saffron forest, with Magnus and Aoi walking beside him—the former being essential to cut through vines and the latter, well because she wouldn't allow him any other alternative. The Ninetales was stubborn that way. After traversing through the foliage for several hours, he had found himself a nice little spot to put up tent for the rest of the day. It was still hours away from evening, but if he needed to prepare food and ensure that his team members got themselves some training, then he needed to start early.

"I need some more wood. Magnus, if you would-" Ash requested, but before the black dragon could move away towards the thicker tree trunks, Ash felt the earth beneath him shake as thick roots sprang forth, their outer layers covered with thick bark, and an optimum alternative for firewood.

"Uh, forget the wood." Ash spoke up. "Help me cut this into pieces. Not everyone has shiny claws over here, you know."

Magnus snorted and extended his claws out, before snapping the roots into little twigs, accumulating more than enough firewood for the meal Ash needed to prepare. Said trainer meanwhile, casually glanced to his right, and saw Trevenant standing there, his monochromatic eye pulsing with the same ominous red color. He sent a grateful nod in his direction, though the elder tree didn't seem to make any visible reaction and instead turned away.

He had released the entire team out of their pokeballs. Despite it being noon, the canopy was thick enough to filter most of the direct sunlight out, ensuring a dimly illuminated setting, enough for the ghosts to be out of their pokeballs without any issues. Crawdaunt and Poliwhirl could be seen practicing what he assumed as some kind of weird punching ritual against the trees, while Absol and Aoi were enjoying a brief siesta. Gengar was… somewhere, lurking around in the shadows, while Zweilous was, as usual, biting in the air, in hope of a good lunch. Shelgon… was an entirely different matter altogether.

Ash sighed.

He turned towards Magnus, who had cast an under-powered ember attack, lighting up a campfire, as a certain shadow crawled away from Ash, towards the shadows flickering on the other side. Over and over, he had made several attempts to talk to Shelgon, to the point of apologising over and over, but now… he just didn't know what to do anymore. Had it been someone else, he would have understood. But for Shelgon, his own starter to misunderstand like that, was something he had no idea how to tackle.

However, the time for that innate dissonance was for later. For now, he had another promise he had made to someone else to keep.

"Poliwhirl… I need to talk to you."

"Poli?" The tadpole looked up, surprised.

Ash gestured him with his head. "Come here."

Without further delay, the tadpole gurgled softly, and sauntered across, making sure he stayed away from the flickering flames, wonderingly inwardly what his trainer wanted with him. The events at the Battle tower had shown him _just_ how much he needed to learn and grow. Sure, his performance at battling the Medicham had shown him his progress, though the battle with Dusknoir taught him how much he _still_ had to learn.

"Poli?" He questioned again.

"It is time that I fulfil my promise to you, buddy." He lifted out the water-stone from his pocket. "Right from the time you were a Poliwag, you have been with me. You evolved to provide me victory at the Cerulean gym, and ever since then, you have been at my side. I know that there have been several situations when I haven't been able to give you the attention you deserve, but I swear I will try to better from now on."

"Poli!" The tadpole gurgled. As far as he was concerned, he hadn't noticed any such discrepancies. However, he would defer to his trainer's superior judgement in such matters. If Ash believed he had been lacking, then that was probably what might have happened. His own attention was currently shifted to something much more important, and much more… fascinating.

Like the aquiline, elliptical rock fragment with bubbles floating in the inside of it, for instance.

"You asked me to decide the moment for you, I think the time has now arrived." Ash muttered softly, as he handed the water-stone to Poliwag, who stared at it, his expression spell-bound, as his hands unconsciously took the stone towards his temples, as the stone came into contact with his dry skin. If Ash didn't know any better, he would have thought that Poliwhirl was demonstrating a form of religious devotion to the stone in his hands.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then, Poliwhirl lurched back, the water stone falling off from his hands. A harsh, cold breeze suddenly swept all over the place, making the flames flicker madly, as Poliwhirl's eyes grew bigger, as if they were trying to burst out of the eye sockets.

And then the world was enveloped in blinding, white light.

* * *

Ash took a step back subconsciously, as he raised his left hand to shield his eyes away from the blinding light. Then, he reconsidered it. This was Poliwhirl's moment. He would not mar this memory just because the light was too intense for him. It was the least he could do for the little tadpole that had come all the way to this step. Painstakingly, he allowed himself to stare directly into the bright light which stung his eyes, Poliwhirl's shape now condensing, as the initially spheroidal frame began to twist and distort. The head-portion became much more pronounced, as his upper extremities extended, increasing his height by at least a foot, his fists growing thicker and more pronounced at the same time.

The bright silvery light faded, filling its space with deep Prussian blue, his head now distinct, his ascent from a lower form into a wiser, more powerful state distinct, stood Poliwrath, shaking his powerful arms, trying to adjust himself to his new and evolved state.

"Poli…. Wrath!"

Ash took a step forward towards the evolved tadpole. Even with a single look, the differences were obvious. The lithe frame had expanded, with thick layers of pure muscle and equally strong hide growing all over the place, forging the muscular form that showed the addition of 'fighting-type' to the water pokémon.

With a voice deeper than before, Poliwrath let out a grunt, before falling down on one knee. Obviously, the spasms induced during the evolution had been more tiring and painful than what Ash had surmised. Almost instinctively, Ash took another step forward, when Poliwrath snapped up, staring squarely at Ash.

Onyx eyes met dull gray.

Poliwrath let out a fearsome roar, his eyes clouded with nothing but pain and sheer strain from the evolution. For one moment, Ash feared that his friend would not be able to recognize him. The dull claw belonging to Magnus's forearm only confirmed that even he thought the same.

It was unnecessary. Poliwrath's eyes slowly turned clearer, as he recognized the black dragon standing behind the human—his trainer—Ash, he realized, before intoning out another grunt—this time softer than his prior ones, as he pulled himself up, supported by his now stronger hind limbs.

"…wrath!"

"Poliwh—wrath," Ash corrected himself, as he took another step, touching the dry skin on Poliwrath's arms. It looked like his fists were covered by a whiter, thicker hide, giving the appearance of a glove. His confidence returning, his palm strayed towards Poliwrath's head, caressing the tadpole's temples, innately remembering how Poliwag loved them, how he would just gurgle and then on a whim, he would-

"bluhbluhbluh-" Ash grunted incoherently as he was hit, face-first by a torrent of water shooting out from Poliwrath's spiral. Obviously, Poliwrath didn't have the chance to test out his new strength, considering how the torrential blast of water sent Ash flying off into the ground, completely drenched and tumbling, as he did.

"Poli?" He croaked in surprise.

* * *

 **AN: I know the post came in a little later than expected, and honestly, I am at fault, since I was dillydallying with random stuff before finally deciding to start writing the chapter, and finish it. In all possibility, you will get to see Saffron city by the next chapter.**

 **I will take this moment to answer some of the reviews posted. But before that, I wish to talk about something—the super-short one-word GUEST reviews to my story. I'm glad that these GUESTS are liking my story and reviewing, but I'd like to request you to put a more… proper review, for lack of a better word. As an author, it would help me better should you give me a detailed review about what you liked/did not like, and any suggestions on improvement of the story or something in general. A single worded 'lmao' or 'huh?' or '3' barely sends me any adequate message.**

 **Now to answer the questions…**

 **I am not sure how 'master ball' and 'meta' came into question, but I assure you that they are not from 'LEGEND' as I know it. Might it be that you have confused LEGEND with another poke-fanfic?**

 **No that was certainly not a keystone. It is clearly given that it was a lunar wing.**

 **Lt. Surge and Team Rocket? I'm not a gamer, but as far as the anime is concerned, I certainly don't remember that happening.**

 **Was the Paul scene really necessary? I think yes. Was the scene of Aoi getting hurt really necessary? I think yes. I assure you, despite what it might seem, I do have a plan in mind and a general outline for the story in place.**

" **Does Aoi really has some nefarious plan of her own or just joined Ash out of pure goodness of her heart?" - Does it have to be one extremity or the other?**

" **It's been over thirty chapters and Ash has only three gym badges, it's irritating."- I'm of the belief that gym battles are not the ONLY things that show progression in the story. Just imagine how utterly boring it would be if the chapters were only concerned with capturing pokémon, training, winning badges, training, defeating rockets, training, winning conferences, training, winning badges, training…. Hell, now I am bored!**

 **That was all. If you liked the chapter, please put in a review. Thank you.**


	33. Enter the Dragon

"You know, I never really gave a thought about the type of battle that I'd have to face at the Saffron gym." Ash frowned, as he sat with his arms pushed backward, his palms resting on the grass. After Poliwrath's evolution the previous day, he had given the tadpole complete _carte blanche_ to test out his new-found physical strength. It had been a surprise to find out that the Poliwhirl-line automatically learnt the fighting-type move called Submission, a rather effective fighting-type move, which, when included with Detect, brought the number of fighting-type moves in his arsenal to two—not an advantageous position for a fighting-type, but then again, he had had Poliwhirl battle in an all-around form, using trickery and surprise instead of blunt force. Come to think of it, even Magnus and Rhydon, both of whom could very well battle as well as a fighting-type, used their own anatomy and sheer strength to overwhelm their opponents than proper move sets- something he needed to correct as soon as possible. Acquiring himself some fighting-type TMs from Saffron city pokemart sounded like a good start as any.

 _ **Type of battle?**_ Aoi slanted her head to the left, peering at Ash.

"Well… I lost my handicap, and now the gym battles should be tougher than they have been. Besides, my change of status from the Battle Tower should… bring in some changes to that as well. I'd only make a fool of myself if I prepare a team of 2 or 3, only to face against a team of six from the world's most formidable psychic."

Aoi slanted her head further.

"—among humans." Ash added hastily.

Aoi smirked. She was certainly not going to complain if her trainer was so… _whipped._ It certainly made for interesting conversations. _**Then why don't you just prepare a team of six?**_

Ash's face was marred by a frown. "The problem is… I'm not sure if I have a team suited to face _the_ Elite Four Sabrina. I'm sure Gengar, Absol and Crawdaunt would be a good option against her psychic types because of their obvious type advantages—not that it holds too much potential against an Elite-level pokémon, but any advantage is a good advantage. Metagross, might also be an option with his resistance to psychic…"

 _ **That's four. What about the elder tree?**_

"Trevenant has only joined the team. I cannot expect him to battle for me, without me aiding him to learn anything first." Her trainer refuted.

 _ **He'd be learning how to battle properly, and out of his natural environment. Is that not a good enough barter?**_

"I don't know." Ash scowled to himself. "I'll… talk to him about it. See how he takes it."

 _ **The dragons then? The serpent? Surely one of them could put a formidable battle against a psychic?**_

"I'm not sure about that. I'm hardly an experienced trainer, but even I understand how _ridiculously_ easy it is, for a versatile psychic to incapacitate an opponent that is not resistant to its attacks. Even then, it is not easy."

 _ **And now I have finally deciphered why steel-head and psi have gotten such big heads from.**_

The teen rolled his eyes at her attempt at sarcasm.

Aoi observed him calmly for a moment, not liking the marred expression on his young face. _**I can battle for you.**_

That shook him out of his reveries. "You what?"

 _ **I can battle for you. After all, you are my trainer.**_

Ash looked at her in confusion. "I thought not putting you to battle was the prerequisite for you to join me."

 _ **Are you complaining?**_ Aoi asked, dryly.

"I… am." Ash returned. "It doesn't look good on me if you have to break your own decision out of pity for me. I know you can perhaps… easily defeat one of Sabrina's pokémon, but it reflects poorly on my own capabilities as a trainer."

Aoi rolled her eyes.

"I did consider Magnus. He's swift and has both close-combat moves as well as long-range attacks. However, he doesn't have an ace in the hole right now that could be used to-" Ash stopped midway, the rest of his words dying in his throat, as his mind raced off ahead.

Knowing her trainer's quirks after her association with him over all this time, Aoi did the best thing she could. She spread out her tails to form a nice little sleeping position for herself.

"Magnus," Ash called out, his overly exhilarated voice almost contagious, as the black dragon leapt off from his place, before landing right next to Aoi (much to her consternation), letting out a grunt of acknowledgement.

"There's… something I need you to try. Maybe if you could do it, it could be your ace in the hole for our next battle." Ash advised. "To start though, I need you to try learning night slash from Absol, and see if you can use it much like a dragon claw attack? Do you think you could do that?"

Magnus grunted in confusion.

Ash lifted a finger. "That's the first step. If you can use night slash with your claws like you use dragon claw, then I might be able to fashion an unpredictable move for you."

That seemed incentive enough for the black dragon, who grunted appreciatively, extending and retracting his claws as if trying to figure out how to learn a dark-typed attack. As was with all dragons, they had traces of all three esoteric types in them, which explained their affinity when it came to learning esoteric-type moves.

"Absol," Ash called out, his voice making the feline perk up in attention. "Could you please teach Magnus a proper night slash attack?"

Absol grunted in affirmation without so much of a thought. This was the first time her trainer had personally requested something of her. She'd be damned if she didn't stand up to his expectations. "—sol!"

The trainer nodded in acknowledgement. Right now, it was a mere theory, but should he manage to work it out fruitfully, then it could open an entire vault of possibilities, and not just for Magnus, but also the lesser-trained members of his team.

 _One step at a time._ Ash told himself.

* * *

 **Several hours later.**

"Alright, let's do this again." Ash proclaimed. "Trevenant, whenever you are ready?"

Trevenant let out a grunt, before he sunk his roots, ingraining them into the ground, spreading out his _will_ over a distance of two yards. It was not much, and that made it a good practice for close-combat, especially when it came to using the environment as a weapon. The special point was—Trevenant was using the environment both as a sword and a shield. While Ash knew how devastatingly powerful Trevenant's ability was, he had yet to see it in a controlled form, instead of the primal force of nature he had faced prior to this point.

"Dark claw." Ash commanded, as Magnus let out a grunt of acknowledgement, flooding his claws with distortion energy. As a dragon, he lacked the weaknesses that the other esoteric types felt when it came to utilizing distortion energy. It had taken some awkward trial attempts, but he was slowly gaining more and more control over the move.

Ash smiled. He had chalked out the plan, assuming that familiarity was the cornerstone of mastery and Magnus needed some amount of familiarity with distortion energy first-hand, before moving ahead to replicate it himself. Magnus already knew Crunch as a Charmander, and Ash made it a point to put Magnus on a battle against Absol, with the former limited to using Crunch and whatever half-assed version of _Dark Claw,_ the dragon could procure at short notice.

It had been painful, but it had been worth it.

Magnus leapt off the ground, changing his position by leaping from one tree to another, and Trevenant kept sending roots and trunks out of the ground, extending out from the branches, and sometimes coming down from the canopy itself. His claws brimming with dark energy, he slashed against the roots, slicing them apart, as he attacked the elder tree. The irony was clear. Around a month ago, the two had a battle in an eerily similar setting, and now they were aiding each other-Magnus providing Trevenant the experience of close combat, while the latter giving him a good practice for his newly honed technique.

Ash took a step back. This would take a while, considering that both battle-nuts were quite charged up. He looked to his right. Absol was having a mock-battle with Aoi, who had, surprisingly, taken it up as a good game. Between the two felines, it seemed like a good match. Aoi was using her fire-based abilities to counter Absol and her proficiency with all three esoteric types.

 _ **Don't stare at us. The feline is having too much fun for her own good.**_ Aoi mentally barked from her vantage point, before quickly leaping away, avoiding a dark pulse just in time.

"Absol, get closer. It will only piss her off." Ash yelled, smirking as Aoi groaned in annoyance, having to use her own mystical abilities to _push_ the dark type backwards. Being as fast as she was, Absol easily twisted mid-air to dodge the air current before returning with a night slash.

"No cheating, Aoi." Ash called out. Said Ninetales didn't even bother to dignify his _suggestion_ with a remark.

For once, Gengar was easily visible, despite it being day time. Instead of her corporeal form, Sylvi was currently in a semi-solid plasma-like state, the dense purple fumes hovering in the air, trying to maintain its stability in the middle of the extreme action on either side. Then again, he didn't really have much ideas about _how exactly_ had Agatha's ghosts taught her the art of Miasma- so he figured that she knew what she was doing. On second thought, he should get started with reading the research material he had gotten from Agatha, for precautionary measure if nothing else.

Crawdaunt had, it seemed, found a new sparring partner in Poliwrath, the newly evolved tadpole only too happy to exchange blows with the rogue crustacean, punch for punch. Considering their proficiencies with the Aqua Jet technique, the two water-types had found a lot of ground to experiment between them.

That only left the two dragons- the dark one among them sleeping peacefully in one corner. Ash was surprised at just _how young_ Zweilous was—in fact, Professor Oak was shocked that the dragon type had evolved into a Zweilous in the first place. By all standards, the pokémon should have been a Deino, and a young one at that. The theory was that the young Deino must have been exposed to some form of evolutionary energy, forcibly triggering an evolution in the young baby dragon.

The discussion they had had back in Pallet had been both interesting and shocking.

* * *

" _ **The Deino line is rather… unique, even among those that demonstrate polycephaly, Ash, and perhaps the only one to have such a body physiology among dragons, which makes it all the more special."**_

" _ **How so, professor?"**_

" _ **Among dragon types, it is quite…expected for the baby form to quickly evolve into its first-evolved stage, like Dratini to Dragonair, an Axew to a Fraxure, or your own Bagon for example, into Shelgon. It is the second step that usually takes a significantly greater time, or a certain degree of emotional growth to actually go ahead and metamorphose into their final forms. For the Deino line though, the same doesn't hold true."**_

 _ **The professor paused for a moment. "Deino takes an incredibly long time to evolve into its secondary stage Zweilous, because it needs to prepare for something, we researchers term as a Cut."**_

" _ **A Cut?" Ash deadpanned.**_

" _ **Internal subconscious sympathetic and kinaesthetic sentience replication, if you really want to go into the details. It involves Deino inwardly doubling its mental capacity and associated faculties to literally create a copy of its own sentience which becomes the controller of the second head."**_

"… _ **. Cut it is." Ash proclaimed.**_

 _ **Oak smirked. "Unlike most other polycephalous pokémon, the two heads of Zweilous are exactly alike, in nature, decision-making, thought-process and behaviour. Though why the two heads decide their superiority by such a mundane point such as 'who eats more' is a mystery."**_

"… _ **."**_

"… _ **."**_

" _ **Bah! I thought you'd at least get my more practical jokes." The man complained. "Either way, not only is this particular Zweilous way ahead of its time, it isn't even more than a year old."**_

" _ **Uh… how old are pokémon when they are given out as starters?" Ash asked, a dreaded feeling sinking into his stomach.**_

" _ **Somewhere between twelve to fifteen months should usually suffice. Surely you didn't expect a pokémon to start battling for you mere days after hatching?"**_

" _ **Um…. No?"**_

 _ **Oak arched an eyebrow but said nothing. "As I was saying, this is a baby Deino that has been forcibly evolved into a Zweilous. It needs rest, plenty of food, and sleep. Lots of it. I'd say you'd do better letting it stay at the coral."**_

" _ **But what if she gets bullied by the other pokémon?" Ash asked, conflicted. Inwardly, he was extremely elated that he hadn't had the 'bright idea' to train Zweilous back on Sulphur Island, whatever the reasons might have been. Who knew what kind of adverse effects that might have had on the little thing?**_

 _ **Oak stared at him understandingly. "Do not worry. And if it helps, you can always call it whenever you train with your dragon types. As a dragon, it is safe amongst its kin. I'm sure Magnus and Shelgon will do a wonderful big brother."**_

" _ **I guess you are right."**_

* * *

From what he had learned from the professor, Zweilous tended to oscillate between two main physiological functions—when awake, try to eat as much as possible, and then go back to sleep. Repeat. Apparently, evolutionary factors played a significant role in turning the species omnivorous compared to the other draconic species—living in caverns for a third of their lives ensured a _lack_ of meat.

 _At least the nutrient potions should have some effect on her growth. For now, rest it is._

That turned him t0 the last member of the group, or should he say, the first member.

Shelgon.

Said dragon was currently sitting in a corner, sulking—not that the dragon would ever admit it- his little paws rubbing into the ground, his harder-than-rock shell unmoving, or rather—he went stiff, as he saw Ash approaching towards him.

"Shelgon?"

No reply.

"I'm standing right here, you know." Ash continued with a sigh. "Look, whatever might be the problem, why don't we just talk and sort it out?" He looked frustrated. "Why are you giving me this silent treatment?"

Shelgon said nothing.

Ash sighed again, before turning back to walk away, before stopping on his tracks. "You know… during the Battle Tower and immediately after, I was of the opinion that I had made a grave error and betrayed you, even though I knew it was a tough choice to begin with. During the battle, when I was watching my teammates fall one after another, I was having thoughts if it would have been better if I have taken you in the team instead. That was why, I decided to apologize to you after the battle."

He paused for a moment. "Now I know that I was wrong."

Shelgon perked up at that.

Ash turned around. "I tried talking to you. I tried apologising to you, and I tried doing everything that was possible to mend things between us. And yet, it seems that you have neither the need nor the inclination to do so. I never thought my starter… the one I started my journey to be a Pokémon Master would be so petty."

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

Shelgon let out a growl. Ash better not be meaning what he thought he just meant.

Ash twisted his neck backwards to stare at the draconic creature. "So, now I made you angry, did I? Did I hurt your pride again?"

Neither of them noticed that the rest of the team members had stopped their individual activities and were staring at the two with varying levels of wariness in their eyes, as if they were expecting something unsavoury to happen any moment.

Shelgon let out a soft growl. Of course, Ash hurt his pride. Did he even need to ask about that? For months, he had endured the disappointment of becoming the after-thought, and yet, he had never even made a sound. Yes, the recent events had gotten to him, and he was more vexed than he thought possible, but he had maintained a safe distance between himself and Ash, and the rest of the team, to wait out the entire process of his innate metamorphosis. Was that too much to ask for?

"I thought my starter, my friend, understood me. I didn't think that he would turn out to be a stubborn dragon that thought of no one, but himself. I do not understand this incessant stubbornness over not being chosen. It is almost as if you want constant proof of your own strength from others. If that doesn't show that you are weak, then what does?"

Shelgon looked up at his trainer—the one person on earth he trusted beyond all measure, the one person he looked up to. Seeing the sneer of the teen's face, the cold expression on his lips, and his hurtful words, Shelgon couldn't _help_ but feel _angry._

But Ash paid him no heed, lost in his own vexation and his inability to set things right. The teen turned his back on the dragon. "I'm sorry, but you are not the _strong_ dragon that was once my starter."

And that broke the proverbial camel's back, as Shelgon did something he had never imagined himself capable of doing.

He lost control. That innate, overflowing _rampage_ present in his very blood, the one that gave a notorious reputation to Salamence, rose in him. His eyes turned an angry red, and for the first time, Shelgon felt a certain need he had never felt before.

 _To destroy. To annihilate. To devastate everything in his path._

With an exasperated _roar_ , Shelgon opened his maw, before releasing hot dragon breath, aimed directly at Ash, as the hot waves of energy hit him straight in the back, nearly scalding him through his jacket. The attack could have been much more lethal, but another pulse of concentrated draconic energy intercepted the dragon breath midway, creating a powerful explosion, the sheer force sending Ash to the ground, fracturing a rib or two.

The teen however, ignored the searing pain he felt on his back and chest, and instead, stared in apprehension and disbelief at Shelgon- at the fact that his starter had sent something lethal at him—and at the massive black dragon that was now standing between him and the angry Shelgon, his silvery claws extended and dripping with draconic energy.

Magnus had entered the equation.

* * *

There had never been competition. Not for Magnus anyway. When it came to choosing between his own pride and Ash, he had chosen Ash in a heartbeat. After all, Ash had been the one to take him in. Ash had been the one to trust him, despite his lack of trust in himself. Ash had been the one who had accepted him as he was, when he had not accepted himself. Ash was the one for whom, he-who-was-not-Charmander had embraced his inner draconic form, something that had brought in the winds of evolution.

That was how _Magnus_ had been born.

" _ **Magnus… it means 'great' and you will be a great and powerful dragon in no time. I think it would be fitting for someone like you…"**_

Ever since the day he had embraced his true self, his power had awakened, and with every defeat, every slash on his hide, every humiliation, every battle, every victory and every achievement, he had developed a little more, learnt a little more, grown… a little more.

And it was all because of Ash.

Even now, he remembered talking to the _Bagon,_ who had volumes to speak about his somewhat idiotic but good-at-heart trainer, about how Charmander had been initially skeptical about Ash, and despite being around Ash for days, how he had suffered from nightmares about Ash kicking him out, or worse, leaving him to suffer on the giant rock like Damien had.

And then Ash had shared bits from his own life with him. It was a memory Magnus forever treasured.

" _ **Like you, I too have never really seen my father. I know he's there, somewhere, but I have never known him. I guess… both of us are alike like that."**_

Magnus had never known his own parents. Back at that... lab, he had only been in the presence of the other Charmander, and never seen a grown-up one. Damien had never been one either. For all he knew, Ash was the closest he had to a parent, and dare he call it… a father.

And he would be damned if anyone tried to endanger that single most-important entity in Magnus's universe.

Even if it were Shelgon itself.

He had silently observed the growing frustration or should he say… jealousy, in the other dragon, something that had become much more distinct after Magnus had evolved. As Charmander, Magnus had been a weakling, while Bagon, later Shelgon had been there to act as his big brother. The all-knowing steel-type had always been… the quintessential overachiever—the one who could fly, the one who could communicate with their trainer, the one who was a pseudo-legendary and recognized his own potential, the one who had evolved to become the most powerful member of the team. The one that Ash spent an awful lot of time conversing with.

The one who had stolen Shelgon's place from him, right from the day he had entered into Ash Ketchum's life.

Initially, Magnus had understood, and had been sympathetic to it even. Then again, he had an innate belief that he was a weakling, and thus, it was obvious that the stronger one would gain more interest and affection from their trainer. But Ash had proven him wrong once again.

And Magnus had evolved.

That was when things had gotten more complicated.

The avian had gained a potential beyond her own comprehension. The mindless rock beasts were slowly gaining more experience and skill. The tadpole was becoming more and more versatile. The prized white feline was already powerful in her own right, as was the queen shadow that had joined up with Ash. The great serpent was young and had much to cultivate, but there was no doubt about his imposing, natural strength.

But Shelgon? After his evolution, he had become a sitting duck, someone who had been replaced from the frontlines to a backbencher. The feelings… Magnus could comprehend it, and even sympathize with that.

But when Ash had not chosen Shelgon in his team, all that locked-up negative emotions had come out, and Shelgon had made Ash as the object to vent his depressions on. Magnus certainly hadn't agreed with that, but he had done nothing to intervene.

And then, surprisingly, Ash had sent everyone- _everyone_ except that golden fiery feline—to the corral. Magnus had wondered about it, but then decided to trust in Ash's judgement. Shelgon though, had only turned bitter. He had tried to talk to the other dragon, but Shelgon had maintained his silence, not bothering to talk to him.

The evolution of the tadpole was probably what had been the last ingredient that broke the camel's back.

Shelgon had attacked Ash.

And _that,_ was something Magnus could not condone. He was ready to do anything, and believed that _any amount of collateral damage_ was worth it, if it meant that Ash was protected from danger.

Even from Shelgon as well, if that was what it took.

The dragon pulse had nearly intercepted the dragon breath attack, but it was obvious that Ash had been hurt by the resultant explosion and was possibly scalded from the hot dragon breath. With a speed that would have perhaps surprised himself, Magnus _shifted_ from his own position, to stand between his trainer and the angry, overtly frustrated dragon who had stepped a little too further.

The retracted claws extended outward, dripping with draconic energy, as the black dragon let out a vengeful growl.

 _No one hurts his father and lives._

 _No one._

* * *

Aoi had withstood the betrayal of her original master. She had stood by her word and guarded her master's territory even when Armageddon had claimed it as its own. Even she had been submerged beneath the depths of the angry and unforgiving ocean, she hadn't deviated from her word, and called in a mystical power she hadn't known she had. She had lived up her own curse, burnt her original psychic strands, and corrupted herself with distortion—becoming something as an unprecedented entity in the strands of time and destiny. The only reason she was here, in this mortal world, was because of a certain someone and a second reason—one which she hadn't even begun to truly comprehend.

And now that obstinate baby dragon had tried to remove her one single clutch tying her with sanity.

Frankly, she had killed for much, much less.

The only reason she hadn't intervened, (and ended the brat's miserable excuse of a life) was because someone else had done so. Faster than she had been able to comprehend, the black dragon had diverted the attack from fatally harming Ash. Of course, not that she would ever admit it, but even she couldn't have stopped that attack _that_ quickly. Her mystical powers, no matter how great, were simply not made for something that rapid. Or so she knew.

To be honest, even she herself didn't _exactly_ comprehend the true nature of her powers. She knew she had them, she knew what they could possibly do, and she had learned to harness _some_ of that ever-expansive ocean in front of her. The stage of _Crimson Red Vermilion_ simply indicated that she had unleashed her mystical powers from genetic restraints, that she could, hypothetically, use them at will. The problem was, she didn't know the true breadth of her own abilities, nor their limits. Yet.

Her tails lifted up, ready to use her powers to protect her master should the situation turn unsavoury.

 _Oh, who am I kidding?_ Aoi mused.

* * *

For the first couple of seconds, there was only rage. His mind was clouded, his emotions unchecked, and he had given in to the primal need to rampage, as was in his nature. Of course, as a Bagon and a Shelgon, such… needs were much more subdued, but now that he was slowly metamorphosing towards his prospective final and true form, those _needs_ were getting more dominant, more active within him. As was with dragons, he needed to constantly seek out potential and (he would never admit it) _weaker_ prey and opponents to _stroke_ his own ego. It was a requirement, and not a whim, since doing so would directly affect his own hormones, keeping the insatiable wish to destroy subdued. It was the main reason why most Shelgon resided in caves, occasionally battling the weaker Zubat or Nidoran, until the metamorphosis was over and done with.

Shelgon however, hadn't had such luck. Ever since his evolution, he had only tasted frustration, defeat, patience, and dare he say it… the ability to keep his own emotions under check, if albeit forcefully. Ash not understanding his _needs_ had certainly _not_ helped matters. However, that had also meant that there had been no lid upon his negative thoughts, which would sooner or later, blast out of the rigid container Shelgon had built around them.

It was unfortunate that Ash had to be the recipient when it bubbled over.

As seconds trickled by, the cloudiness disappeared, as did the rage behind them, filling Shelgon with a mixture of apprehension, dread and _fear,_ as he stared at the fallen, and scalded form of Ash Ketchum on the ground, with a reasonably angry Magnus standing in front of him, his claws extended outward in declaration of war.

Shelgon did not care. Ash was hurt. Surely he would understand that it was a mistake. Without thinking, he moved ahead, galloping on his four legs towards Ash-

Only to feel a dragon pulse, straight ahead on the face, from an angry Magnus, who stood guard, not allowing _him_ to reach Ash. The dragon pulse slammed into his face, pushing him back by several feet, his powerful shell keeping Shelgon away from everything but superficial wounds.

" _ **Let me go!"**_ He roared back at his once best-friend.

" _ **You will not harm father!"**_ Magnus roared back, swinging his claws, each dripping with draconic energy, as he raced towards him.

" _ **I'm not…. Just let me pass."**_

Magnus only responded to that by snarling back.

Confused, apprehensive and anxious over the fact that his trainer was hurt, Shelgon did the only thing that his rage-addled mind could do. He saw the black creature as an obstruction and dealt with it in the most befitting manner.

He gave in to his impulses.

Lifting his maw up, he growled, before slamming his paw onto the ground, creating a low-level earthquake, before belching out hot, scorching flames towards Magnus, who leapt into the air, his claws raised and ready to pierce into Shelgon's armour. Finding the black dragon above him, Shelgon threw up a _Solo meteor_ attack, hitting Magnus head-on, which exploded in a shower of meteors, the draconic pellets firing away in all directions. Incensed, the black dragon fired a powerful dragon breath of his own towards Shelgon, who countered with a dragon pulse instead.

The two draconic attacks neared each other, with Magnus still in the air, and Shelgon readying himself to face the impact of the explosion about to take place.

Nine golden tails spread out in the air like a corona.

And everything _stopped_.

* * *

Seven layers removed from Reality, Aoi felt her heartbeats go slower and slower.

 _ **Thump! Thump! Thump!**_

…

 _ **Thump!**_

As waves of distortion created a trans-temporal pocket reality whose sense of _Time_ differed from the real world, the entire zone was branched off, out of the confines of space and time, only to be reinsert Ed when Aoi would be done making her _adjustments_.

Everything stopped. Shelgon, his maw still lifted and open, Magnus, draconic energy surrounding him like a blanket, the dragon pulse shooting towards the black dragon, and the equally powerful dragon breath shooting back to the creature on the ground, all of them seemed to have been fixated, stuck in the absence of the flow of time. Only Aoi herself, Shelgon, Magnus—and unfortunately enough, Ash remained within the confines of the pocket reality created by her mystical powers. The pocket reality _had_ to be created out of a complete circle, and it was impossible for her to exclude Ash, keeping the two dragons and herself inside the circle—a restriction she would have to learn to discard later on. For now, Ash was inside the sphere, surrounded by distortion energy on all sides, and unlike the previous time, would be privy to the matters inside this pocket dimension.

Said trainer was staring all around himself in awe. This was just like being on that cursed island once again. He stared at the Ninetales who seemed to be actively trying not to look back at him, before glancing towards the disabled dragons hovering in mid-air.

 _What is this place?_ Ash couldn't help but wonder.

 _ **Thump!**_ Aoi felt the fifth heartbeat. She had to hurry.

Aoi took a deep breath. Creating a pocket reality was comparatively easier, compared to what was she was about to try next.

Her eyes glowed malevolently.

Several finger-like projections shot out of the distortion-coated walls of the dimension, before leeching on to Magnus, Shelgon, and importantly, the significantly powerful dragon pulse attack hovering in the air between them. She knew that both Magnus and Shelgon could feel it as Distortion sucked in their strength, as was visible by the fading _rush_ around Magnus, and the slowly disappearing Dragon Pulse between the two visibly infuriated dragons. Faster than the two beasts could comprehend, the impromptu battle had come to a stop.

 _ **Thump!**_

The two dragons felt their bindings disappear, as both fell down to the grassy floor. Aoi's eyes flashed again, now elated that the crisis was now averted. Before the teen knew it, the Distortion walls disappeared, as Ash felt himself _return_ to the real world, once again.

 _ **Thump! Thump! Thump!**_ The Ninetales felt her heartbeat slowly steady, before somehow managing to keep away from falling down, no thanks to her now weak knees. Using that… ability, took a lot out of her, especially the second part. She only hoped that it would be enough to continue.

"What… was that?" Ash tried to get himself up, only to hiss in pain, the bruises on his abdomen making him fall down, face-first, to the ground once again.

Aoi didn't bother to answer. She only had eyes for one single entity in the entire area. The baby dragon who had committed what was easily comparable to sacrilege in her eyes. And he would pay.

Her eyes glowed again, and this time, it wasn't to stop any attack, but to deal one on her own, as a silvery outline formed around Shelgon, who felt his entire body locked and incapable of movement.

" _ **Just let me go,"**_ the dragon snarled in his native tongue, doing his best to push his paws out of the psychic trap but in vain.

" _ **So that you can attack my Master again?"**_ Aoi hissed, her tone venomous.

" _ **It was a mistake, I-I didn't-"**_

The rest of his words were unheard, as several wild screeches gained Aoi's attention. Surrounding all of them, perched on branches all around them, staring at them with predatory stare, were _several dozens_ of Mankey and Primeape.

She barely noticed losing control over Shelgon's frame, dropping him unceremoniously as she leapt towards the fallen form of her trainer, the other members of the team darting closer to them.

The mad apes beat their chests powerfully, jumping from branch to branch, screeching angrily at the group on the ground, as they let out a war cry, descending down to their prey.

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

Absol was pissed. First, she had been interrupted from an engaging spar, and immediately after that, the Rock-head dragon had attacked her trainer. Of course, she had panicked on seeing the vicious dragon breath shoot towards her trainer, only to sigh in elation when the black dragon had stepped in to protect him, before she herself could reach him. Before she knew it, the two dragons were engaged in a ferocious battle, and then that tricky and incomprehensible nine-tailed feline did _something_ that stopped their battle out of the blue. Of course, the powerful Draco meteor thrown up by the rock-head had been quite devastating for the forest in general, if the scowl on the Elder tree's face was of any indication.

She had crouched towards her now injured trainer, only to freeze in her tracks. Surrounding them in all directions, was a _massive_ herd of pig monkey pokémon, the nasty ones whose inborn-rage kept growing and growing until their death, most of which happened to be quite… unsavoury.

She had faced their kind back in the mountains that had been her former home, back at the Reserve. Mankey could shift from normalcy to heightened fury in less time than it took to batt an eyelash. Run away from them, face them head on, beat them, send them unconscious, bind them, get defeated by them… It didn't matter, since everything seemed to fester more and more anger in them, enriching their madness.

Unbridled, unrestrained, raw rage. And funnily enough, the more they got angry, the more their sheer strength increased, often at the cost of their ability to think and comprehend.

A true berserker.

And like all berserkers, Mankey and its evolved form, Primeape seemed to find peace, only in death.

Watching the fighting-types rain down on herself, her team mates, and more importantly, on her trainer, Absol let out a vicious snarl, her horn glowing an ominous purple as distortion energy concentrated within it.

The intent to kill flooded through her.

* * *

The maniacal battle-hungry creatures, fuelled by the _lust_ for rage, descended down towards the population down below, half of which had been caught by surprise by the sudden invasion. The large herd, which called the Saffron forest its home, was primarily responsible for more than eighty percent of the deaths or as the League put it- _trainers going missing—_ that had voluntarily stepped into the confines of the Saffron forest.

With Magnus exhausted by the recent battle, and more significantly, by those distortion tendrils that Aoi had employed, the black dragon was barely able to make sense of the sudden turn of events, as he somehow managed to pull himself up—his exhaustion making it difficult for him to stay focussed. If not for the impeding sense of being surrounded by potential danger, he would probably have fallen down by now. As far as Aoi herself was concerned, the entire event had taken a drastic toll on her, and if not for the fact that Ash's life was now in perhaps, greater danger than the previous circumstances, she would have already sunk down to rest, allowing her body to heal and rejuvenate itself.

Shelgon though, was a completely different matter altogether.

Of course, he had been sucked out of his power by those damned tendrils, but so lost was he in his outrage, he didn't even notice the loss in his power. Instead, he turned his senses to glare at the impeding danger on everyone in the vicinity—namely the herd of pig monkey pokémon.

Two tense seconds trickled by.

Shelgon lifted his maw and threw up another Draco meteor.

"—ape!" "Mankey!" The chattering, screeching herd enveloped Ash and company on all sides.

War came to Saffron forest.

* * *

With both Magnus and Aoi on their last legs, it left the newly evolved Poliwrath, and his partner Crawdaunt to defend against the encroaching invaders, at least as far as physical defenses were concerned. Aoi was doing her best to maintain a _Protect_ sphere from all sides, protecting herself and Ash from the constant barrage of punches and kicks that stormed upon her psychic shield, though considering that she was facing fighting-types, it was no surprise to find the shields constantly shattering and new shields arising out to take their place. Of course, she had a wide arsenal of offensive abilities to use, but a prerequisite for that would be to leave her trainer unprotected.

So, Protect it was.

Magnus was slashing his claws against the pig monkeys, though for every single successful hit, he suffered thrice in return. Not only where the fighting-types in greater numbers, they were much faster, and had the situational advantage to themselves. Shelgon on the other hand, kept on firing draconic attacks at any of the monkeys in the vicinity, only to stop for a second and-

 _ **SLAM!**_

Two consecutive Mach punches hit him in the face, sending the dragon flying across several yards, before three of the mad species jumped upon him, showering him with punches and kicks. It was a testament to the sheer strength of his shell that kept Shelgon from becoming a pulp.

"Mape! Mape! Mape!" went the war cry.

On the other side, Crawdaunt was punching the headlights out of several Mankey with constant use of crabhammer, his anatomy being a perfect blend of offense and defense for this particular situation. He felt the enemies encroaching on all sides, and enveloped himself with flowing water, before zooming off into the air, slamming into the beasts at terrific speeds—Aqua jet and crabhammer combination in action.

Poliwrath though, was a completely different picture. Anyone and everyone that approached him was first being subjected to a powerful torrent of water slamming into their faces, and then depending upon the tadpole's whims- the victim would feel an ice punch and get frozen, or… no thanks to the newly added fighting-type, suffer a powerful hammer arm to the face.

In contrast, Absol wasn't faring spectacularly well. She was the only one close enough to the madly screeching Zweilous, whose instincts screamed _danger_ and kept on trying to bite the air all around, hoping it was the head of the predator. With Ash being indisposed, she had automatically assumed responsibility to protect the infant dragon. Her eyes glowing malevolently, she sent several Primeape and their junior counterpart lost in their worst nightmares, though it barely lasted- their _vital spirits_ pulling them back to action faster than Absol thought was fair.

A punch came slamming from behind her horn on the left, and would have hit her head—a severe injury considering the position, if not for the conveniently raised _giant root_ that shot out of the forest floor, that not only intercepted the attack, but also sent the now-trapped Mankey upwards into the air, screeching madly.

Absol let out a sigh, as she turned towards her impromptu saviour, as the monochrome-eyed elder tree ghost let out a soft grunt- several roots rising up from the ground to form a dome around the baby Zweilous- before the ghost took a step forward, his arms raised.

Trevenant had decided to enter the battle.

* * *

Sylvi was perhaps, the one true offensive participant in the entire setting. With herself being completely immune to fighting-type attacks, she took great pleasure, turning herself into her Miasma state, saturating herself with thick poison, after which the dense, purple fumes swirled around in the vicinity, jumping from one Primeape to another, poisoning each of them enough for them to fall down, screeching as the poison trickled into their veins, before she reformed back into her corporeal self.

The Gengar grinned.

Her left eye tracked down the other ghost in the vicinity, the one who had been mostly neutral to the entire debacle since the start—Trevenant had barely done anything, and considering that most of the attacks made on him went flying through with no effect, it was no wonder that the pig monkeys had stopped attacking him and gone for the rest. Then again, Trevenant himself wasn't attacking back, so it made much more sense.

An outside observer would have perhaps misunderstood the entire situation and accused Trevenant of being a betrayer, but Gengar knew—the truth had nothing to do with Trevenant's own beliefs, nor with his relationship with the rest of the team.

Trevenant were, in essence, protectors of the forest, and by extension, those that resided in them.

Despite his origins, Trevenant were literal _guardians_ of a forest ecosystem, always going out of their way to preserve peace, and promote growth in forests, both for the plant life and the pokémon inhabiting inside them. It was for the same reason why the sulking ghost had been so… _accepted,_ inside the forests lining the Oak Ranch. As far as Saffron forest was concerned, Trevenant had _seen_ Shelgon throwing up the Draco meteor up in the air—and not just once. He had seen the amount of destruction the battle of the two dragons had caused to the forest environment, and it had only been his _word_ to Ash, that had stopped him from interfering in the entire matter. Obviously, the Draco meteor fragments must have disturbed the herd, which must have been the cause of their apparent displeasure and their declaration of war on the group. As such, the elder tree was conflicted—between fighting for what he truly was meant to be, and fighting for the team he was now part of.

Sylvi only wished that Trevenant be able to make a decision before things turned… nasty.

She saw the void-using feline snap one of the Primeape's arm off with a crunch attack, sending the forest-dweller into the throes of pain- and saw the other Primeape swerve a powerful punch from behind. Gengar had just started to form a shadow ball to defend Absol, but a large root tire through the ground, protecting Absol against what could have been a grievous injury. Many more roots followed, forming a dome to protect the _innocent_ dark dragon from the rampage outside.

Sylvi casually observed that Trevenant did nothing to protect Shelgon or Magnus, both of whom were having a _hard_ time against the rampaging attackers.

 _So that is how it is going to be._

The Gengar grinned again, her paws dripping with ghostly energy, as she impaled the incoming attacker straight through its abdomen, making the monkey whimper in pain before falling down to the ground.

" _ **How many do you think will die before they decide to let us be?"**_ Absol grunted, as she sent a dark pulse ahead, banishing the unfortunate victim by several feet. She leapt next to the Gengar, her horn now ready for another night slash attack.

" _ **Probably no one,"**_ The Gengar grinned deceitfully, impaling another Mankey with a _'cursed paw',_ killing it instantly.

She turned to grin back at Absol who just deadpanned at her.

" _ **All right, potentially everyone."**_

Absol guffawed.

* * *

The last of the shields shattered, as Aoi dropped down to the ground, her legs giving away as the last Mach punch tore its way through the _protect_ barrier, following up with a mega kick right at the feline's neck. One single hit would be enough to shatter her vertebrae, crippling the Ninetales for life.

At least that was what the Primeape thought.

"Prime!" The pig monkey screeched, as his leg flew towards Aoi, only to be—

 **SLAM!**

-bodily shoved aside by an injured, but no less defiant Ash Ketchum, holding what seemed to be a remnant twig from Trevenant's upraised roots. Half of the makeshift weapon had already twisted and broken by the single strike, though considering that Primeape had been sent tumbling to the side, it had been more than worth it.

"Take up against someone who can fight, you overgrown monkey!" Ash spat, before taking another thicker, heavier twig from the ground and slamming it in the head on another Mankey, who was punching hard at Shelgon continuously. Of course, it did nothing to throw the creature off, but it did make it angrier than it already was.

 _Shit!_ Ash cursed, before holding up whatever was left of the twig in his hands, as the now maddened Primeape and its unevolved form sprang at him—

Only for several roots to shoot up from the ground, hitting the two apes right in the abdomen, sending them flying away.

"Heh!" Ash laughed. "Thanks Trev-Urk!" the rest of his words remained unfinished down his throat, as his eyes widened, almost to the point of bulging out of their sockets, as blood thrust out of his mouth-

"—ape!" He heard the beast behind him.

He felt several of his vertebrae shatter, as a solid jump kick hit him straight in the back, before he closed his eyes, his knees hitting the floor, his face slamming down into the grassy floor, his eyes glassy.

And the world descended into bright light, fire and _pain._

* * *

After the nth punch on his face, Shelgon had given up on victory. He had fought against his best friend in the team, attacked his trainer, and had his power sucked out of him by that eerily powerful feline. After that, he had taken the entire herd of mindless beasts head-on, only to be thrown around and beaten up. Even with the endless array of punches, Shelgon couldn't help but notice how _not one_ of the team came ahead to even _try_ to help him out.

The next punch shattered one of the shards right next of his face.

 _Why would they, anyway?_

The next punch broke another shard off the shell, a thin fracture line visible along the furrow, a little further right.

"—key!" The mindless creature brought ahead another punch near his face as Shelgon prepared for pain-

 **SMACK!**

"Man—Man—Key!" Shelgon opened his eyes, only to find the strangest and most incomprehensible sight in front of him-Ash, his hands around a thick twig, which he had possibly smashed on the Mankey's head- a probable hypothesis considering how the pig monkey was screeching, holding its head in pain.

 _He came to save me? Even after I nearly killed him?_

And then the wretched creature decided to go for Ash, as it sent one last kick towards Shelgon before turning towards Ash—

Only Shelgon had other plans.

The dragon opened his maw, taking the monkey's paw straight into his mouth, feeling his fangs shatter as he did, but he bit into the leg, before turning around, using his own weight to shatter the pig monkey's knee as he did, making the Mankey to screech wildly in pain, before it kicked Shelgon away with the other foot, before leaping towards Ash-

Only for a large root to shoot out of the ground, banishing it away by several yards.

Shelgon almost chortled at the sight.

"—Urk!"

The barely formed chortle vanished, only to be replaced by shock and _fear,_ as he witnessed Ash get hit in the back by another Primeape, as his trainer fell down, his knees first, before his head met the ground.

And Shelgon let go.

The _dragon_ awoke.

The first crack created a thin fracture furrowing its way through the upper-left portion of the shell. The next crack was proof that the fracture had shattered through half of the skull. By the time the third crack was heard, the metamorphosing genetic material inside Shelgon's shell had begun to shine—glow radiantly in the dim light beneath the canopy.

And then two large, crimson-red wings tore their way through the shell, which cracked even further, not having power enough to stop the ongoing procedure.

Shelgon screamed.

Two more fractures happened on the lateral sides of his body, as four blue limbs, each of them ending with three shiny claws at the edges—shot out of the ruptured openings, followed by a third splinter at the posterior, out of which, a long draconic tail shot out, blue all over with red on the underside. With a third roar, Shelgon raised his head, which finally ruptured out of whatever remained of the upper shell—as a long necked draconic head shot out, leaving only the lower portion of the original shell—now forming a protection covering for his red underbelly.

 _Salamence_ let out a devastating roar.

* * *

 **AN: Yeah, I'm evil! The next chapter ends up the entire Lavender Town and aftermath arc and ends up with Ash in Saffron. Now that is covered, let me answer some of the reviews.**

 **First of all, I am kind of… exhausted trying to see sense in the 'Ash is OP' comment that is put forward now and then, so I have decided to just wait and let said reviewers to see it when it comes.**

 **As for the number of pokémon Ash has—friends, anime Ash had 11 pokémon plus 30 Tauros. As of now, Ash has what… sixteen pokémon? Is that really that ridiculously high to keep track of?**

 **Finally, the famous question about why the updates have been slower over time. Let me try and explain that for a standard situation.**

 **1\. An author starts out writing a fanfic out of nowhere. The first chapter is usually a half-assed experiment, to simply check how the audience receives it. Notes their reactions.**

 **2\. If the reactions are positive, then the raw and contagious enthusiasm of having one's creation published and read by an international audience literally pushes the author to write more, and he publishes the next chapter. Of course, he is only just creating the story and doesn't need to bother over with much, since he is only filling up the premise now. The audience reaction is likely good and the updates are timely and quite fast.**

 **3\. The story crosses a 100k word length and probably over 500 followers. The story now has a proper premise and well defined character development going on.**

 **4\. It is now time to slowly cover up existing plot holes, and start some more. More exposition is needed and the complexity of the story needs to be taken into account. The author can no longer write freely and instead needs to start focusing on defining proper arcs and solving a hundred different complications, which at times, means fan service at times as well.**

 **5\. The updates are gradually slower and slower.**

 **6\. The story crosses 300k. Several plots are already existing and needed to be handled with precision. The chapter and arc lengths need a greater care than previously and the characters need occasional development and pruning if necessary.**

 **7\. The updates become slower and slower.**

 **The above is basically what I assume must happen to a standard fanfic author. Now, to answer the question regarding why my own posting schedule tends to speed up and speed down randomly is-**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **:P**

 **...**

 **It is simply a matter of my whims. :D**

 **If you liked the chapter, please put in a review.**


	34. Choices and Limits

For centuries, _they_ have stayed. For centuries, _they_ have worshipped the resident deity, the one who was the source of their mutation, the source of their strength, the source of their… _shine._ For centuries, they have stood guard, ensuring that nothing, and no one, ever interrupted the Great One as he slumbered beneath the crust, in his own dimensional mesh, insulated by the Unown.

For centuries, they did his bidding, as they stood in wait, for the day the Electric Tamer would come to pass by their abode. After all, who would n0t want the opportunity to be blessed by the companionship of the one to whom the _lightning dragon_ would swear its allegiance?

And so they waited.

The mindless beasts on the surface served as a good filter, removing any and all forms of unworthy and unsavoury entities away from their abode. Mindless and berserk they might be, but even the dimmest could comprehend the presence of divinity when it walked in front of them. And the mindless beasts certainly understood _who_ it was, that _they_ served.

And He came.

 _They_ were never so disappointed, in centuries. He had to be _him,_ but yet, he was not _him._ By all probabilities, such a blight should never even have existed. But he walked, and he had several other protectors all around him-

And so, they waited.

And watched.

They watched him evolve that tadpole into his higher form, using an elemental crystal the humans called a water stone. They saw him take care of the void-using dragon like a parent. They saw him take care of each and every one of his teammates, with the same love and affection they expected from the Tamer. And yet, he was not him. He _could not_ be him.

That was when things changed. They saw the rock-head dragon throw a tantrum, and attack him back- they wouldn't admit it but they felt glee at it, feeling that it indicated how he was not worthy to be _him._ They saw the dragon injure him, and surprisingly (or not), the black creature, the likes of which _they_ had never seen before, stand up to resist the rock-head from attacking him. They witnessed the battle that followed, and the rampage it brought. They were distraught when the vulpine managed to use mystical abilities, and invoke the _Void_ of all things to help salvage the situation.

It was clear why he was not _him,_ especially if he desired the acquaintance and companionship of such… distorted creatures. Freaks.

It was indeed, so clear.

Needless to say, they were clearly smug when the herd of mindless beasts jumped down on them, as _they_ watched from their vantage points, watching the spectacular battle that ensured.

* * *

 **Back to the present.**

The first crack created a thin fracture furrowing its way through the upper-left portion of the shell. The next crack was proof that the fracture had shattered through half of the skull. By the time the third crack was heard, the metamorphosing genetic material inside Shelgon's shell had begun to shine—glow radiantly in the dim light beneath the canopy.

And then two large, crimson-red wings tore their way through the shell, which cracked even further, not having power enough to stop the ongoing procedure.

Shelgon screamed.

Two more fractures happened on the lateral sides of his body, as four blue limbs, each of them ending with three shiny claws at the edges—shot out of the ruptured openings, followed by a third splinter at the posterior, out of which, a long draconic tail shot out, blue all over with red on the underside. With a third roar, Shelgon raised his head, which finally ruptured out of whatever remained of the upper shell—as a long necked draconic head shot out, leaving only the lower portion of the original shell—now forming a protection covering for his red underbelly.

 _Salamence_ let out a devastating roar.

The silvery shell enclosing the spheroidal draconic being was no more. Instead, the metamorphosis had been completed, hastened by the bubbling, over-indulgently negative and powerful emotions brimming inside the mind and heart of the dragon who had finally revealed himself to the world, his giant red wings, flapping out in the air, as if testing its own strength and durability, his limbs now capable of better locomotion than it had been as Bagon, his powers enhanced and his abilities shining and active.

Almost immediately, the ability known as _Intimidate_ made its presence known, as each and every of the pig monkeys out there, as well as the rest of Ash's team, felt an unnatural feeling of _fear_ weighing them down, reducing their ability to attack at full strength. Poliwrath openly flinched.

Salamence let out another earth-shattering roar.

"Primeee!" The de-facto leader of the herd sneered, as it let out another war cry, as they began to leap towards the new threat in their territory—

Only to receive a blast of scorching heat right in the face.

Salamence lifted his maw and belched out torrential flames, spewing them out towards the herd, scorching and burning anyone and anything that even dared to come close to him. The excess burst of energy supplied by evolution, coupled with the emotions it had been experiencing, along with the somewhat blurry memories of how he had been on his last stand before this untimely evolution-

All of that came out in the form of uncontrollable, undeniably powerful, infernal rage. It needed an outlet, and Salamence gave it one.

The Primeape.

As soon as the blast of concentrated, super-hot flames hit the de-facto leader, it lost consciousness. There was no screeching, no feeling of pain. The sheer power behind it was enough to send the fighting-type into oblivion, irrespective of the fact that half of the fur on its body had been charred to ash.

And that, led to the activation of something ever worse.

There was only one thing that could be more disastrous than dealing with an angry Salamence. It was dealing with an angry Salamence with Moxie.

Moxie, a hidden attribute to Salamence's constitution, is something that doesn't really show itself unless in the direst of situations—an ability that increases its wielder's attack power tremendously should an opponent lose consciousness in battle. Needless to say, in a situation when the ability-wielder is facing multiple opponents, its attack power would keep magnifying with each opponent falling before him. Given Salamence's natural sheer strength, and vast move pool, most Salamence almost _never need to_ activate Moxie, which stays as its hidden ability.

However, the current arrangement had several factors that were not _natural_. An angry, frustrated Shelgon that had betrayed his own trainer. The application of mystical energies that had rendered its powers near-useless. The acceptance of _defeat_ by a dragon. The sheer fear of seeing his trainer almost die in front of him. The presence of the same nemesis that had caused its trainer to almost die.

It was a situation that would almost, never happen. A probability so, so small that even the Gods could have possibly overlooked it.

 _Moxie_ activated.

Salamence felt a frightening amount of power rush through his veins, empowering and agitating him even further. He lifted his maw and belch out dragon breath with a consistency that would surprise him in the future if he chose to introspect himself about it. Right and left, he shot towards the encroaching monkeys, slamming them with his powerful claws, bathing them in dragon fire, or worse, biting them off in a fit of rage. In a matter of minutes, the entire Primeape and Mankey herd were on the floor, burnt, scorching, and-

"Key! Key!" One of the Mankey kept on screeching, despite being burnt and charred.

Salamence raised one of his limbs and slammed it against the pitiful thing's face, smashing it as blood spat out all over the white fur, straight onto the ground.

Silence.

The angry dragon's declaration rumbled like thunder.

With the now subdued attackers (or whatever remained of them anyway), Salamence stared down at the fallen body of Ash, recognition once again flooding his senses as he stopped his rampage, his wings now drooping as he neared Ash's fallen and now unresponsive form, trying to push him awake with his snout.

No reaction.

Salamence tried again.

Still no reaction. What was going on?

This time Salamence pushed with a little more strength, making Ash turn over and fall on his back. A slight tremor on his chest was the only indication that the human was still alive, but only just.

" _ **He won't wake."**_

Salamence twisted his long neck to stare down at the vulpine pokémon sitting next to Ash. Aoi had managed to pull herself up—her expression vacant as she regarded the powerful dragon. _**"His consciousness is gone."**_

Salamence breathed tiny embers off his snout. How dare this creature even suggest that his trainer was-?

" _ **He is alive, but only barely. For all my powers, I cannot heal him. It is beyond me. His spine is broken, and too fractured to heal."**_

Salamence growled, flapping his wings. Surely the human healers could do something about it? _He had wings now!_ He could take Ash and fly off to those Pokémon centers or whatever they called it! _Ash hadn't even seen him evolve and fly yet, damnit! There was no way he would be dead._

" _ **You think that the human healers can help him where I could not?"**_ Aoi snarled. _**"You think I would be sitting here, watching his soul slowly trickle out and escape his body if I had an alternative?"**_ Aoi's entire frame seemed to be clouded with distortion energy, before she slowly calmed herself, trying to stop her innate _madness_ from taking over. She would not tarnish the invaluable minutes of time she had to be beside her trainer, before he left the world.

Ash Ketchum was dying, and there was nothing she could do about it. She could of course, create another distortion sphere, but even that wouldn't be able to stop the soul if it decided to-

To….

Aoi shuddered, as she tried to supress the innate madness rising within her, all over again. A dull claw pressed against her shoulder, as she twisted her head, finding Magnus, who looked completely forlorn. Even the other teammates were slowly walking towards Ash, their steps faltering every now and then, as they surrounded Ash's fallen body. Even Trevenant seemed to look… jaded. Almost as if, he had come so very close to accomplishing something, only to realize that it had been an illusion.

" _ **I have one last thing to try. But I need to concentrate for that to happen."**_

Aoi knew, only something… mystical could save her trainer. Something beyond even her own range of mysteries.

And she prayed for such an intervention, no matter the cost. Not to the Gods, but the one being she knew could _perhaps_ aid in such a situation. But for that, she needed to concentrate with everything she had, and be ready for any kind of sacrifice that _He_ desired in return.

Anything.

She regarded everyone around her. _**"Ensure that I am not distracted."**_

Almost as in cue, Absol walked up to Ash's fallen form, before taking up a protective stance, glaring out at the forest. Magnus stayed to his position behind Aoi, while the two water-types stayed in the background, looking around for possible threats.

Aoi closed her eyes, as her tails spread out into a corona, turning into their true shades, as they shone with unbridled power, allowing her to _try_ connect herself to _His_ realm. She had never done it before, and she knew very well that the chances of getting it even this time were close to zero. But what did she have to lose anyway? With Ash gone, it was not like she had an alternative reason to exist in this plane. All she needed was a bit of quiet so that she could concentrate and- _WHY WAS THE DRAGON ROARING?_

Furious, she opened her eyes, ready to give a mouthful to said dragon, only to stop in her tracks. They weren't alone. Surrounding herself and the rest of the team, were several dozens, if not _hundreds,_ of Voltorb and their evolved form, Electrode. Though, the alternate shade of Prussian blue, instead of the bright red on their lower portions signified something very important and… strange.

They were _shiny._

Here she was, surrounded by hundreds of _shiny_ Voltorb and Electrode, and from the electricity sizzling all over them, it took no psychic to decipher that these… new elements were _irritants_ at best, and _antagonists_ at worst. It was quite natural that seeing another batch of intruders would send the dragon back into his familiar state of rage.

 _Just what I needed at this moment._ She snarled inwardly.

For Salamence, it was pretty simple. He had almost lost hopes on talking to Ash once again, and if the golden vulpine thought that she had a way, he would be damned if she got interrupted before that happened. Rage clouded his eyes, as his powerful wings began to beat. Salamence went airborne.

The tension was palpable in the air, as the hundreds of electric types surrounding them began to glow brightly before unleashing hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity—towards the group in the center—and Ash in particular. One single bolt of those, and the teen would be scarred beyond the point of recognition, not to mention that his nerves would probably be fried and damaged completely, if he survived the attack in the first place.

Aoi stared at her current predicament in horror. There was no way she would be able to hold her ground against such an attack, not in her current condition either way. Then, her attention fell down on her trainer's form once again. At least, she would be beside him when it happened. It was better than the other option.

 _This is preferable to losing my sanity once again._

Several bolts of lightning flew towards the population in the center, as Aoi closed her eyes.

At that moment, several things happened.

Salamence and Magnus lifted their maws to eject out enormous blobs of luminescent orange into the air, as the two blobs condensed into a single, larger conglomerate, as it acquired a decent height, before suddenly expanding outwards, forming the most potent draconic attack available to the dragon-kind. Absol slammed her feet down to the ground, raising boulders out of the crust to form a makeshift shield against the oncoming attack. It was rudimentary, and nothing compared to what came next.

Roots, enormous and length and girth, shot out of the grassy floor, intertwining around each other, rose all around them, forming a shield, as Trevenant forced his _will_ over the forest ground. The bolts of lightning hit the roots, burning them at few spots and mostly scarring them, but most of them were discharged down into the ground through them, cancelling out what would have otherwise been a fatal strike.

Aoi blinked owlishly. She certainly hadn't expected such… helpful behaviour from the Elder Tree ghost. Apparently, whatever might have transpired between him and her trainer, must have been significant, for the Tree to actually demonstrate support like that.

She sent another fond gaze at her trainer's form.

And then the _Draco meteors_ fell. Raining down all around the circumference, into the herd of those antagonistic electric types, injuring them gravely, and given the species' proclivity to explode at the simplest things, it was no surprise that the forest exploded with bright, white light.

* * *

A lone watcher observed the ongoing proceedings from his own vantage point from a distance, watching his kin take on the _imposter_ and his band of freak creatures. A fire-lizard that had been _distorted_ to the point of becoming more draconic than stay to its true nature? A holy vulpine lost to distortion and capable of evocation? Ghosts and vengeful spirits tailing him? The more he watched, the more it became obvious just how _big_ of a disappointment the human had turned out to be.

He watched as his kin tried to annihilate both the human and his associates, only for the Elder Tree to protect them by forcing its will through the forest ground. _The sheer nerve of them—_ to use the Great One's abode to protect that blight. It was sacrilege as far as he was concerned.

He watched with horror as the draconic meteors showered down upon the ground, causing his kin to explode upon constant, bathing the entire forest with bright white light. He saw the rage in the eyes of the mighty bluish dragon and his compatriots.

Calamity was near, and if nothing intervened, it would mean the end of the Great One's abode as he knew it.

Almost as if in answer to the lone Electrode's question, a single roar reverberated through the entire forest, one that brought the entire forest and its inhabitants down to their knees.

 _It can't be…_

* * *

It was no longer an issue of vengeance, or protection. Those… sentiments had long past escaped Salamence's mental constitution. Instead, he was now beginning to enjoy this, bathing the irritant electric types with scorching dragon fire, exploding them right and left with dragon pulse whenever they decided to attack back. One furious fool had even made the attempt to try a Gyro Ball attack on him, only to get a direct slam by a powerful tail swing. Of course, Salamence could hardly wait to learn the infamous dragon tail attack- something that would make his just-used tail swing seem merciful.

He glanced at the fellow black dragon battling by his side—Magnus. Now that he was evolved, he could hardly wait to challenge Magnus to multiple battles. His best friend would make for an acceptable rival to measure his own strengths, of course, if only Magnus would just evolve into his own superior form as well.

He glanced back at the vulpine. Now only if she could just make Ash return to health.

He lifted his maw to throw up another burst of dragon breath, his eyes enraged and ready to bring in the Electrode herd's worst nightmare. Once those pests were taken care of, the vulpine would have the peace and quiet she desired. The dragon breath was just about to escape his maw when-

 **KOOOOONNN!**

The sheer power behind the roar was enough to even deter Salamence, stopping him in his tracks. By the looks of it, the reverberation itself was more than enough to make everyone in the battlefield pause. Even the ruthless shadow seemed to be more… aware of the presence of the apex creature in the vicinity.

 **KOOOOONNN**!

Salamence slowly brought himself down, flapping his wings anxiously. Something in that intimidating voice seemed disarming to him, almost if his very own power did not hold a candle in front of the creature they were about to encounter.

Even the golden vulpine was staring blankly ahead, her eyes filled with _genuine fear._

A massive quadrupedal creature, with an icy blue fur on each limb, an enormous and majestic-looking antlers rising out of its head like a crown, before dividing into two branches, flowing down to the back like a white, skeletal ornament, covered with a creamy-white cloudy mane. The creature let out another roar, and this time, even Salamence felt subdued.

Salamence turned to glance back at Aoi, both of them sharing a single thought in their minds.

 _I knew taking the forest route was an extremely bad idea._

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

Ash Ketchum opened his eyes.

At first, it seemed all kind of, blurry and painful, as if even trying to keep his eyes open seemed to hurt his ocular muscles. The constant headache that gave him the impression of someone constantly hitting him with a blunt object didn't help matters either. He closed his eyes, before opening them again.

It was dark, and from what he could understand, he was lying beneath a canopy of trees. He looked aside, only to see a campfire burning beside him. That was when his memories returned to him.

The misunderstanding with Shelgon… Magnus and Shelgon fighting viciously, Aoi doing something… Ash clutched his head once again, something… something, he wasn't sure what it was—his memory of that incident felt all fuzzy.

Angry red eyes flashed in his mind, as the attack made by the Primeape herd came to mind. He had seen Magnus and Aoi fall, and then tried to help Shelgon, before… before it went all black and painful.

Ash blinked. He tried to push himself up, succeeding in the first try, though he could feel some tension in his back, almost like a reminiscent ache left over by a wound treated off completely. He arched his shoulders without fail, feeling no pain at all. Why then, did he have this odd sensation that he _should be_ feeling mind-numbing pain?

He looked towards his feet, only to widen his eyes, as he stared dumbly at the sight of a large, bluish dragon with red coloration in its undersides, with large wings on the back. The magnificent creature was sleeping soundly a feet away from Ash's left thigh, with its left paw on his leg, giving off a feeling of protectiveness.

It didn't take any further for Ash to realize what it was he was staring at.

 _Shelgon… He Evolved?_

He pulled his left hand up, only to feel smooth, golden fur covering it. Turning over as slowly as possible, he observed the golden Ninetales sleeping beside him, her tails covering the better part of his left arm. On closer look, Absol was sleeping on the ground, a little closer to the burning campfire.

He turned back towards Salamence. What exactly had transpired after he fainted? What had he missed? And why did it seem like the entire battle, most of which he remembered so vividly, _didn't seem to have taken place at all?_

He pushed himself up, taking care not to disturb Aoi's sleep. Upon taking a closer look, he couldn't find a single bruise on his body, despite remembering the feeling of being a big bruise right after Shelgon had…

His expressions shifted into a frown.

 _Shelgon attacked me._

He glanced back at the sleeping form of Salamence.

 _Strange._

He found Magnus a little far away from Absol, just bare inches from the flame, his own tail sunk into the campfire to ensure that it kept burning. Poliwrath and Crawdaunt were, as was natural, as far away from the flame as was physically possible, and snoring. He couldn't see the watchful, crimson eyes of Gengar like he had come to expect, nor was Trevenant in the vicinity.

 _They might have gotten out to hunt, like always._ He told himself.

That brought him back to the main question. What _exactly_ happened after he lost consciousness? What made Shelgon evolve, and what made the angry dragon return back to his protective stance when it came to him? And importantly, why did it seem like the battle with the Primeape herd hadn't even happened at all?

It was… frustrating.

He looked around. The entire region seemed to be enveloped by darkness, though the flickering campfire did reveal the presence of what seemed to be… _trunks?_ Yes, they had to be tree trunks, spiralling out of the ground to create a makeshift dome with the top having enough openings for ventilation.

Trevenant's work, he presumed.

A slight chill entered his bones. He froze, remembering the exact situation prior to this when he had felt this… chill. However, unlike the previous two situations, this… feeling, was remarkably different. For one, the original one felt strange, hollow and depressing. This one though, seemed to get his heart at ease, almost like feeling the evening breeze after a hard day of work. Almost automatically, his head twisted towards the north.

And he froze.

Through the openings of the canopy, he could vividly see the outline of a creature standing far away in the middle of the trees, its head lifted upwards towards the full moon shining with all its might. From what Ash could ascertain, it was quadrupedal, with a silvery mane like protrusion coming out of its head, along with what seemed to be horned antlers or something like that. It was almost like the moon was present in the sky, only to illuminate the ethereal thing that bathed in the moonlight.

His mouth gaped open, staring at the mysterious and mystifying thing so near, and yet so far away from him, as an incessant desire to reach the creature filled his heart. Not catch it, but to get closer to it, to touch it, to get to know it. It was as if getting to know this… entity would bring him peace. It was almost like…

Contentment.

He lifted his right hand towards the creature.

Almost instantaneously, the creature seemed to _register_ his presence for the first time, as it let out a soft noise, before leaping away into the depths of the forest, away from Ash's sight. Ash blinked several times, but he could see no glimpse of the creature after that. Feeling the incessant headache clouding his mind, he decided to lie down for the rest of the night, sleep easily coming to him as if…

As if it were waiting for him all along.

* * *

 **The next morning…**

The first thing that he registered was the random cacophony of voices all around him—voices belonging to his friends, who by the looks of it, were wide awake. With a suddenness that even left him slightly surprised, Ash opened his eyes, staring up at the sky, and finding the specific lack of tendrils and wooden trunks covering his sight. A single twitch towards the left revealed the lack of the campfire, and bright sunlight all around, which could well mean only one thing.

It was morning, and Trevenant had taken down whatever protections he had raised up for the night.

"Nine!" He heard Aoi whine, as she sensed his senses return, before leaping right onto his chest, licking his face furiously, making him giggle.

"Heh! That tickles!" Ash laughed, though not really trying to push Aoi back.

" _ **Finally! You are awake!"**_ Aoi spoke to mentally. " _ **It's about time."**_

Ash only arched his eyebrows, but said nothing, only managing to push himself up from the ground, as the golden vulpine pushed herself back. Seeing him get up, the other pokémon quickly encroached him from all sides, with Magnus and Absol leading the crowd-the white-furred dark-type licking his face affectionately as she rubbed the side of her face to his skin. Magnus only let out a soft growl, putting a dull paw against his left shoulder, making sure not to put pressure on his shoulder bone. Even Poliwrath and Crawdaunt seemed... enthusiastic to see him up, and if the suspiciously dark shadow beneath the crustacean's appendages were of any indication, so was Gengar. The dull crimson shade in the middle of the trees, a little far away, told Ash that the Elder tree ghost was there as well.

"All right, seeing all of you get so excited is making me truly believe that my dream of being attacked by a Primeape army actually happened and wasn't a dream?"

Magnus growled at the mention of those infernal creatures, while Aoi's eyes glinted malevolently at the mention.

"So can someone tell me how it seems like I never even got any injuries, when I vividly remember the bones on my back breaking? Not that I am complaining."

Aoi looked distinctly shifty.

"Aoi?"

" _ **Uh… how are you?"**_ Aoi asked in a calculated tone, as if trying to reassess her evaluation of Ash's medical status.

Said teen merely looked back in apprehension. "A little aching all over, but everything else seems fine. Why?"

" _ **Just checking."**_

"And I see," Ash glanced around, making note of the fact that his newly evolved starter was sitting a few feet away from him, making sure _not_ to look back at him directly from the start. "-that it seems like all of you got yourself magically healed in the meanwhile as well."

Poliwrath gurgled something to the Ninetales, and from the sudden grunt from Magnus, it was understandable that the black dragon was supportive of the tadpole's suggestion as well.

Aoi only snapped something incomprehensible in return.

"To those of us who do not speak Pokémon-tongue, a little translation please?" The teen commented, his tone derisive.

Crawdaunt snorted.

"Look, I woke up last night, and I did see something unusual, which I am likely to believe is quite related to this… supernatural healing that happened to me and to you all, so it would be really helpful if you would-"

" _ **What do you remember?"**_ The Ninetales interrupted his tirade.

The rest of his words dying in his throat, Ash stared squarely at the Ninetales. "I saw the barrier you put up shatter, and I… took up a twig from the ground, to drive them back. Then I saw…" he paused, staring straight at Salamence who was still avoiding his eyes, "— _Shelgon_ being attacked, and I tried to beat those Mankey off too, but, I failed." He shifted his glance back to Aoi- narrowly missing the apprehensive glance that Salamence gave him for an instant before looking away- "and then, something hit him in the back, and I felt pain and then succumbed." He paused, "I think."

" _ **After you passed out,"**_ Aoi casually glanced at the bluish dragon who was still looking away, _**"I believe that the attack on your person was… significant enough for the rock-head to evolve, after which he pretty much burnt out who ever tried to approach us, or well—him."**_

Ash winced. The sudden surge of energy brought in by evolution was often, more than enough to get pokémon out on a rampage, often ending with destruction and a lot of collateral damage. Usually, the effect was magnified for more powerful and brutish pokémon. His experience with Rhydon was a good enough experience for that. To think that Salamence had even come down from his state of rage would have meant- Ash reconsidered it. He was working under the assumption that Salamence actually calmed down on his own, without any external influence.

" _ **Yes, and it would be better if you just listened instead of going out on another of your mental tangents."**_

Ash chuckled at that.

Aoi scoffed fondly, before her expressions shifted. _**"You weren't moving, and I… we thought… we thought that you were almost going to die. To make matters worse, we were attacked by an army of electric types."**_

"An army of electric types?" Ash stared in confusion. The Primeape attack he could understand- it was possible that the battle between Shelgon and Magnus might have set them off, and Mankey weren't the best ones to reason with. But electric types? Suddenly, he remembered being electrocuted back at the lab—it was almost as if he was in for the trauma—regardless of what he did.

"Why-why did they attack us?"

" _ **We don't know."**_ Aoi scowled at the thought. _**"They attacked first. Thanks to the Elder tree, we all survived, and the dragons were capable enough to destroy their battlements easily."**_

Ash felt a surge of pride for the dragons on his team. It was then that he remembered. "Zweilous?"

" _ **The baby dragon was protected by the Elder tree with a barrier. The electric beasts did not deem it necessary to attack it."**_

"Then how did you-?" Ash tried to emphasis his thoughts through hand-gestures. He well-remembered that Aoi was almost about to succumb to unconsciousness when he had tried to defend her against the fighting types. There was no way she would have-

" _ **No. I did not save your life, and we have got that covered now."**_

"—Sorry!" Ash raised his hands up in surrender.

Aoi growled. _**"The rock-head dragon had gone into a rampage and would perhaps have ended the attackers completely, but then… then the North Wind intervened."**_

That brought a frown to the teen's lips. "The North wind?"

" _ **The north wind. The essence of spring water. The purifier of nature."**_ Aoi spoke with a tone that seemed partly fascinated, and partly afraid. _**"You humans refer to him as Suicune, the legendary beast."**_

Ash's eyes widened. Suicune? Could that be the creature he had witnessed when he had woken up earlier? Suicune, one of the beast trio of Johto—he had read about it in the book about Legends that Cynthia had sent him. The information wasn't comprehensive since it focussed more on the myths surrounding the Hoenn and Sinnoh legends. He had done some personal research on the legendary bird trio of Kanto, but Johto? He barely had reliable information on that.

"But Suicune… Suicune is a legendary from the Johto region. Why would it be here near Saffron?"

Aoi chortled at the thought. _**"It is disappointing that you of all people would consider that the Legends would limit themselves by meaningless things like geographical and man-made boundaries, Ash."**_

"But-"

" _ **The Hoenn legends are called so, because that is where they are most closely associated with. That, in no way, shape or form, limits their movement or their presence in the other regions."**_

"I… I suppose that does kind of, make sense." Ash absently rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed. After all the things that he had run into, he should have done better than to take such information at face value, especially when they were mostly observations and theory, with no concrete proof.

That however, opened yet another bag of questions he didn't really want to deal with.

"Then Suicune… stopped Salamence? And it healed me?" He paused for a moment, remembering how he had been thinking about all of his team looking fresh and healed—"it healed all of you?"

" _ **The North wind is the conceptualization of purity. He healed the mindless beasts, he healed away the poisoned, the burned, the injured, and the… nearly dead."**_

Ash had a sneaking suspicion that Aoi wasn't only talking about the pokémon in the forest.

 _Suicune healed me? A Legendary? I thought… I thought the legendaries didn't like me or something._

" _ **Irrespective of your personal experience, I can assure you that it did come to pass. The North wind healed everyone- friend and foe alike. The electric types departed soon after, and you—and all of us, were healed."**_

"I think I saw it—Suicune, I mean. It was standing in the forest—with antlers up and everything, I think, and then it ran away when I looked at it. I think I might have startled it."

Aoi suppressed a snort, at her trainer's confession that he might have _startled_ a _Legendary, causing it to run_ of all things. Ash was still undeniably naïve, but even with his naivety, Aoi knew she couldn't have asked for a better alternative.

" _ **Either way, you are healed, and so are everyone else. There is no point in questioning the why's and the how's of the entire event."**_

"I guess… you are right." Ash pushed himself up further, so much that he was now sitting completely straight. The slight ache on his back was still there, but it was more than easy to ignore it. "We should make a run for Saffron city then."

Aoi snorted at his comment, before swiftly turning around, speaking to the rest of the team in her native tongue, who seemed to agree with her. From the torn and tattered pieces of cloth fallen on the ground, it was obvious that the tent was completely destroyed, as were the rest of the camping gear. Even from his vantage point, he could clearly see the dents on his backpack, which had been used for a makeshift pillow for him while he had been unconscious.

He turned towards the backpack, suddenly glad to have bought that extra storage contraption back in Mirage Island, which seemed to be perfectly unharmed and usable. With exaggerated slowness, he extracted out every single thing out of the backpack, checking out each and every one of the contents within, analysing what could still be of use and what would not- putting the former away into the smaller contraption. Either way, it would mean a hefty expense for him when he reached Saffron. He would have to get himself an entire set of camping gear, an extra sleeping pad for emergencies and other facilities, and while he was at it, get himself another backpack as well, since the present looked like it wasn't going to be of any use to him ever again. Even minor dents caused those to malfunction at times, and his backpack had two significant ruptures. Folded-space technology was like that.

 _Great._ He sighed. _More expenses._

He turned around, glancing at the rest of the team. By the looks of it, they were all collecting whatever remains of the camping gear remained, and serving themselves to what seemed to be raw forest fruit. A little side glance showed a pair of half-eaten dead Rattata further south. Apparently, his team hadn't been at all considerate when it came to food during the previous night.

 _At least most of the meds and the full-restores are in working order._ He mused, before turning back to the job at hand.

He sighed again. As much as he wanted to delay it, it was time to address the elephant in the room. By the looks of it, even his own team wanted him to be done with it.

He turned towards the bluish dragon a little away from himself-said dragon's long neck drooping towards the grassy floor, as he did his best to avoid looking at his trainer.

"So…." Ash muttered. "You evolved."

It felt incredibly odd for the teen, and if he guessed it right, it felt similar for his starter as well. For months, the two had talked about Bagon's—and then Shelg0n's desire to grow wings, evolve and fly in the sky to his fulfilment. He remembered how… amusing and troublesome Bagon had initially been, taking every chance to jump down, either from a sharp cliff or a bridge or anything that looked similar, in hopes to sprout wings mid-trajectory. And now finally, his starter's wish had come true.

The sad fact was that it had taken their relationship to be tainted to reach this stage.

Salamence let out a soft growl.

"And you attacked me."

Salamence met his trainer's gaze.

"I suppose you think I am a bad trainer." Ash replied, his voice eerily calm, surprising himself to an extent. "I can only imagine that I drove you beyond the point of acceptability that you felt compelled to attack me in return."

Salamence widened his eyes, before swiftly shaking his head, groaning out desperately.

"You don't?"

Salamence shook his head again.

"Then why did you attack me?"

Damn. His trainer was asking all the difficult questions. Salamence let out a pitiful whine before his head came close to Ash's hand, but the trainer stood up, avoiding being in contact with him, much to his shock.

"You are my starter. We started our journey together, you and I. You were the one who stayed with me despite my own ignorance in the beginning, despite my recklessness, and despite everything that the two of us encountered. We were a team. I know that I wasn't able to give you all my attention like I did in the beginning, but we talked about this—we talked about how it would be different when more pokémon would join our little group."

Ash looked away. "I can understand that with me choosing others back then at the Battle Tower made you feel… bad, but from what I can understand, this isn't the first time that you have been angry about it all." He paused. "I cannot truly comprehend what it might feel for a dragon, I cannot say that I would perhaps have acted differently had I been in your place, but…."

He turned towards Salamence. "What I do not understand is why you kept it all to yourself, and not bothered talking things out with me? Surely, Metagross could have helped things out."

Salamence let out a tiny growl at that, which Ash translated to be displeasure.

"Oh, so it is about Metagross, is it?"

Salamence looked away.

Ash peered towards the heavens. "Some trainer I am! My own starter is jealous of the attention I am giving to my team member, and I only find out about it just now!" Unceremoniously, he sat down on the ground. "How long have you been feeling like this?"

Salamence let out tiny embers out of his snout, but said nothing.

"I cannot have my own team fighting each other. If you remember, we have a super powerful legendary pokémon gunning for us? The one that has us on a year-limit?"

Salamence growled at that. He had almost forgotten about Mewtwo—that ridiculously powerful psychic who had been able to take down the entire team without any effort back on the island. Now that he thought of it….

"I tried to focus on everyone's training and development. You know what happened at the forest, and what happened at the Island. Magnus evolved, and I had to give him more attention, as well as the new members of the team. Trevenant was being… well himself, Zweilous is a baby, and Dusclops… well, she's a different story altogether. There was Cynthia, and we both know that she was with us for a limited time. I tried to get the maximum out of the time spent together, and tried to ensure that each and every one of you were optimised to be better than what you—what we had been before the Anne." He sighed, pausing his monologue. "I would have thought that if my starter was going through something as simple as team-envy, he should have talked to me about it. So you do not like Metagross, big deal! There was Alakazam, and Aoi has been- or wait, is Aoi also on the same list as Metagross?"

Salamence growled again, demonstrating his own displeasure.

Ash arched an eyebrow. "I cannot have my starter jealous of anyone and everyone I spend time with. Metagross, Aoi, and the others—they are just as part of team, like you, and like me. I am not playing favourites within my own team."

Salamence shook his head towards Aoi, and then gazed back at Ash.

"Oh, so it is about that?" Ash pulled his hands to his waist in typical interrogative fashion. "You know as well as I do just how limited your movement was, as Shelgon. Even then, if you were feeling left out, why didn't you approach me about it? Or is that also completely falling under my own shortcomings?"

Salamence whined. He should have thought things over when Magnus had offered the chance.

"After the Tower, I sent you and everyone back not because I wanted only Aoi beside me, but because that was the rules at the mansion. It would have an adverse impact on you all. The only one who would be immune, beside Aoi, was Pidgeot, but she could do better flying in the wild, than be cooped up inside her pokeball inside the mansion, and so I sent her back as well."

In hindsight, it did make sense, Salamence decided. He had simply taken that as yet another instance of his trainer choosing others over him. He hadn't really considered Ash's perspective about it, or anyone's for that matter.

"So now you are the one who can fly apart from Pidgeot. Should I completely stop bringing Pidgeot out for long flights, because now I have you? Would that be fair to her?"

Salamence whined again, bringing his long neck close to Ash. This time, luckily, Ash didn't move away. Instead, the teen slowly caressed the thick hide that protected the dragon's neck from external damage.

"Shell—Salamence, I can understand what you might have thought, and why you reacted the way you did. I don't have to like it, and to be frank, I don't like it. If you have any more issues that need to be dealt with, I suggest we decide them over right here. You might not like Aoi so if you want, I can call Alakazam back, just so you know."

The dragon shook his head again. He was done with the entire misunderstanding and keeping grievances to himself thing. He wasn't a fan of it any longer.

Ash took a step away, staring at Salamence squarely in the face. "I certainly hope that you weren't foolish like Metang had been, and forced your evolution."

This time, Salamence had the audacity and the intention to stare back, as if in protest. What exactly did his trainer think of him? He would die, but not interfere in his own metamorphosis. After all, it was his lifelong dream to have wings. Of course, his anger and his inner maelstrom _might_ have hastened the process slightly, but that was all there was to it.

Ash sighed. "Good. Nice to know that you are a lesser idiot compared to Metang. He forced his evolution so that he could win the match for me. Idiot. I had to send him with Steven so that he could catch up on what he had missed by his untimely evolution. Even now, Alakazam is having him run through the griller for that."

Salamence decided that from now on, he would stop making any and all kinds of assumptions. He was terrible at those.

Unfortunately, his trainer just _had_ to spot his expression.

Ash groaned. "Please tell me that you didn't think that as me giving him unfair advantage over the rest of you!"

The bluish dragon looked down sheepishly.

* * *

 **Some hours later.**

It was finally time to leave for Saffron city. They had spent more than enough time in the forest as it was, and they needed to get supplies soon. Ash and the team had feasted heavily upon whatever food supplies had been retained in the aftermath of the attack, and once everything was done for, it was time for the team to finally return to their pokeballs so that the trip could be continued.

The only difference was—it was going to be completed by flight. Good thing that the saddle he had purchased at Mirage Island had been part of the few items left completely unmarred.

"Are you sure that you can actually take flight with me on your back?" Ash asked for the nth time.

Salamence corrected the promise he had made to himself. Perhaps his trainer did need another attack to his person—a non-lethal one this time, so that he might just _shut up_ and sit on his back. He was a dragon for fuck's sake. He instinctively knew how to fly.

The blue dragon growled in annoyance, flapping his wings, as if to say— _just get on with it already._

"If you think so." Ash returned hesitantly, double checking if he had indeed placed the saddle properly. He was too young to die by falling off a dragon's back mid-flight. If said death happened because of a silly thing as improper positioning of the saddle, it would only be more humiliating.

Salamence growled threateningly.

"All right, all right. Stop snapping. Sheesh!" Ash grumbled good-naturedly as he managed to sit with his two legs on the dragon's either side. "Pidgeot had this mane to hold on to. You don't seem to have any-EEEEEE!"

The unmanly shriek was probably because said dragon had decided to flap his wings suddenly, pushing himself off the ground, only to shoot up into the sky, rapidly approaching top speed. He had desired to fly all his life—a desire that had only compounded over the last couple of months. The unmanly screams of his trainer hanging on to him for dear life only made it all the more enjoyable.

* * *

 **Saffron forest. Somewhere beneath the crust.**

The tunnels that ran underground vibrated constantly, as several Voltorb and Electrode rolled their way through them, with each of the electric-types now returning to their own devices. It had been a significant occasion, especially since they had gotten out onto the ground after several years now-except the occasional member of their kin rolling out from time to time. There had been anticipation at having a chance to see the one who should have been the Electric-tamer, only to face disappointment. The disappointment had deepened, when they had further failed to eliminate the Blight from the world, but the sudden intervention of the North wind had been… interesting, as well as vexing. Slowly, the electric types vanished into the darkness leaving a lone member, who silently pushed himself into one of their more… reverent spaces, the same one in which the Great One slumbered.

The lone watcher, who had observed the proceedings over the past day, silently positioned himself in wait for the Great One to return back to the land of the living, passing through the dimensional gateway of the Unown. He didn't know how the Great One did so, but he assumed it was simply part of being a Legend. Whenever he needed guidance, the Great One manifested himself through the passage of the Unown.

As if to confirm his own strong belief, the large circular slab in front of him began to glow with a bright jade shade, as three unown began to slowly manifest on the top, causing unearthly energies to manifest and swirl around and on top of the slab. In moments, the jade swirl morphed into what seemed like a dimensional gateway through which the bright blue orb-like entity, with a pitch black umbra in the middle of it began to turn visible. Slowly, the golden armour that enclosed the Great One's form was distinct, enclosing the blue orb on all sides except the front, giving him his proto-star appearance.

A tiny sliver of light in the middle of the black umbra was indication enough that the Great One had awoken.

" _ **The whispers were true… it seems. The new hope turned out to be a disappointment. The prophecy remains unfulfilled."**_

The aged Electrode couldn't help but share the Great One's disappointment. _**"We encountered him, and we tried to eliminate him, in hope that another offspring of the First would perhaps, be chosen as his replacement."**_

" _ **What stopped you?"**_

" _ **The Northern wind."**_ The Electrode answered grimly.

The jade swirls deepened, as the gateway seemed way too insignificant to contain the Great One's rage. _**"The Legends have agreed that the prophecy remains unfulfilled. We are to abstain from imparting any and all aid to the failed prospect. For the Northern wind to betray our breathen like this…"**_

" _ **But the northern wind did not act out of order."**_ The Electrode refuted. _**"The Northern wind intervened, only to stop the raging dragon that was maiming our kin. As is his nature, he healed everything in his path before his departure."**_

The Great One stayed silent. The Northern Wind had always been… been the one to play around the loopholes of the very constitution the Legends followed to the Tee. The constitution upon which the entire balance of the multiverse depended upon. With his own essence being one of purification, the Northern wind was always the more… proactive one, choosing to seek what it right and wrong, what is impure and what isn't- according to his own perspective, without ever considering the greater good of all Existence.

Even the Electrode knew it well. As far as Suicune himself was concerned with, the Northern wind purified and healed everything on its way—friends and foes alike. It was _simply_ a matter of _coincidence_ that the Blight, injured and dying, was fallen on the same ground as the others. The Northern winds didn't choose sides or register exceptions. They just blew.

" _ **I… see."**_ The Great One finally commented. _**"The Northern Wind might have seen it fit to intervene in this situation, but sooner or later, the Blight will have to face judgement. Anything and everything is acceptable damage if it prevents the Dark God's return."**_

With that ominous remark, the jade swirl began to rush around in reverse direction, as the trans-dimensional gateway began to collapse onto itself, as the Great One began to fade from view. In a matter of seconds, only three Unown remained, which would begin to slowly fade away. Had an archaeologist been able to witness the three Unown, they would have perhaps comprehended the true identity of the Great One, from the message the Unown conveyed. It was a group of three different meanings, when used together, gave out a single, un-ambiguous sentence.

 _ **The One that devours the Sun.**_

* * *

 **AN: Saffron city next! I must admit it took me days before I finally got into the mindset necessary to deal with the entire Ash-Salamence dialogue, which was—an hour ago. Hopefully, I did a decent job with it.**

 **And yes, finally a Legendary (or two?) makes their appearance once again. Well, a direct appearance, that is. Surely you didn't think that I would do the entire 'electric tamer' thing and forget about it altogether? As for how the Legends are reacting to Ash being… well, not the Chosen One, is slowly being revealed.**

 **Saffron gym is next, and it is time we have a gym battle between Ash and Sabrina. I am still not sure whether to make it a 6 on 6 or not, but hopefully I will figure something out. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. As for Aoi's CRV powers, I am taking a gradual-reveal route.**

 **The thing about revival by Gengar. It took three Gengar, all of them Mega-evolved (much like the Ash-Greninja evolution, only it is Agatha and her 3 Gengar), and a whole bunch of myriad things that is not always, if at all, an option. It was an unnatural situation and an unnatural mystery that just managed to occur. Period.**

 **Nathan Brown, I am not exactly sure what you mean by 'my notes on my chapters'. Please PM me about it.**

 **I believe I will be progressing the story plot a little faster from now on. Well, he won't be spending another 10 chapter-worth of content in Saffron if nothing else.**

 **And that is it for now. Please review if you liked the chapter.**


	35. Mind against Mind

Three years ago, Saffron city was associated with a different name, a different gym, and a different gym leader. For decades, the Fighting-type gym, first created by gym-leader Marcus around a hundred years ago, tested the mettle of conference aspirants who were on their way to challenge the Indigo League Conference. Back in those days, the Saffron city gym stood at number 2, second only to the infamous Cinnabar gym under the mysterious and elusive Fire-master Blaine—in terms of difficulty level for an average aspirant. There was a reason after all, why most people tended to avoid the Saffron gym—choosing to try their luck with the alternative options instead.

Then, roughly sixteen years ago, Alfred Marvil, a renowned psychic and a resident of Saffron city, had a daughter—Sabrina, a young girl who from her infantile period, demonstrated a high proclivity towards psychic abilities. Over time, her skills encompassed apportation, claircognizance, telepathy, telekinesis, psychometry and levitation. When she turned nine, Sabrina demonstrated abilities enough to equal a newly-evolved Kadabra, and had begun to demonstrate affinities towards the powers that the Abra-line was famous for. At the age of twelve, she was already classified as one of, if not the most powerful human psychic in the world.

That was when things became much more interesting.

Sometime before her thirteenth birthday, Sabrina registered herself as an aspirant for the Ever-Grande Conference of Hoenn, creating another world-record by acquiring the necessary eight badges within a time frame of exactly twenty-one days—just in time to submit her name for the conference held that very year. She then went on to defeat each and every single opponent in the conference, using the same six psychic pokémon under her command—and eventually became the Ever-Grande League winner.

Then, she returned back to Kanto, and using her status as an _Elite trainer,_ challenged the Kanto Elite Four- a family that back then, comprised of the Ice-Master Lorelei, the Ghost-Master Agatha, the Fighting-Master Bruno, and the Fire-Master Blaine. In a series of quick and decisive battles, Sabrina defeated Blaine, Lorelei, and Bruno, exactly in that order, before meeting her match in Agatha, to which she succumbed and for the first time in her life, tasted defeat.

That was how Sabrina ended up winning the position of the Second Elite Four, causing Blaine—the then fourth Elite Four to lose his position as Bruno and Lorelei were demoted down from their second and third positions to third and fourth respectively.

A month later, Sabrina Marvil walked up to the infamous Fighting-type gym, then run by gym leader Anthony—a descendent of Marcus, challenging him to a battle with the future of the gym at stake. Should Anthony be able to defeat her, she would give up her own position as Elite Four. Conversely, should she win, then Anthony would have to shut down his gym for good.

Three minutes.

Three minutes was all that took to completely humiliate the Fighting-type gym leader, as Sabrina walked out, with the position of the new Saffron city gym leader—another notch on her belt. The once powerful fighting-type gym, was now reduced to a mere _dojo,_ as Sabrina Marvil settled herself as the new _psychic-type_ gym leader of Saffron city.

* * *

 **Present Day.**

Ash Ketchum strolled into the spacious Saffron city gym, an edifice that incorporated a breeding ground for psychic abilities for those with the genetic talent, a standard gym battle-arena for accepting challenge-requests from conference aspirants, and an equally large and spacious office for matters pertaining to the Elite-Four level. The entire complex was built in a pyramidal fashion, with the apex morphed into a cross, with almost the entirety of the Elite Four business conducted in the upper floors. The building had three entrances, each limited to the nature of business. The league aspirants entered from the Door 2, while Door 1 was utilized by the psychic trainees tutored by Sabrina herself.

Knowing the high level of traffic the Saffron gym dealt with on regular basis, what with Sabrina's position both as instructor and Elite Four, it was somewhat… difficult for an aspirant to get his challenge request accepted on the same day, especially if said aspirant wished to battle Sabrina herself, and not one of her many apprentices she had kept for such occasions. Thus it was no surprise when Ash had found his name registered for battle _after_ two days—or so the receptionist informed him, owing to Sabrina's busy schedule.

Not that Ash had truly minded the delay. In fact, it had come in as a welcome gift for the teen, who had quickly taken the time to finish his purchases, along with some three more TMs from the Saffron city Pokemart-two of which were fighting-type, while the last was more of a sneak tactic. Despite the supernatural healing induced by _Suicune_ (if he were to believe Aoi), he had no reason to avoid getting himself and his team get properly checked up at the Pokémon center—a precautionary measure if nothing else. And now, after two days of loitering around in the city, including the early hours of training he had spent with his team, Ash was now ready to challenge Sabrina for the Marsh badge.

He found himself standing in front of a large steel wall, which cracked from the midrib, allowing him to view the vast expanse that lay beyond. With silent steps, he walked in, only to find himself facing the expansive steel-layered contraption that was the Saffron gym. In many ways, the battle arena reminded him of the Vermillion gym, though on closer look, more differences began to pop up in Ash's mind.

For one, he found himself headed towards what seemed to be a podium for the challenger to stand, while an identical podium stood several yards away, with an entire oval arena built in between. Taking two steps forward, he stood on the challenger's podium, staring at the empty gym leader's podium. Not for the first time, his fingers caressed over the six pokeballs lining his poke belt—the team he had prepared for this upcoming battle for the Marsh Badge. Apparently, a challenger wasn't allowed to have more than six pokémon on his poke belt, during an official gym battle or league conference. Professor Oak had told him that there were all sorts of nuances and archetypal reasons behind that, reasons Ash had no business poking his nose in.

"I am here to challenge the Saffron city gym." Ash intoned loudly.

A ripple in the air in front of him was the only thing that answered his declaration of intent, as Sabrina, the Elite Four and Psychic master, the Saffron city gym leader appeared out of thin air in front of him. Her golden hair divided into two twin-tails on either side, along with her youthful appearance only brought out every bit of the fifteen-year-old as she was. Two large bangles on her wrists, each of them shining bright silver, as her crystal azure eyes stared at Ash.

"Ash Ketchum," Sabrina tilted her head, her voice curious. "I had anticipated your arrival, though I must admit, I am unsure if it is a good or bad idea."

Ash narrowed his eyes. Exactly what was this… _girl_ , trying to say to him? He could admit—hearing about someone of his age as an Elite Four, and actually meeting her face to face, were too different things. Besides, the tales he had heard about the mysterious Sabrina had left her presence shrouded in mystery, at least to his imagination. Seeing her face-to-face, seemed… somewhat bland.

However, that was for later, and Sabrina was speaking.

"Good decisions come from experience, and experience from bad decisions. Your decision to challenge the Saffron gym—which is it?"

Ash blinked. "Guess we will find out."

Sabrina smiled. A serene thing, really. "We will do a four on four battle. Substitutions are allowed, and as is your right as an Intermediate-level trainer, you will face appropriate pokémon. The match ends when either of us have lost all four pokémon."

For some reason, Ash didn't think that the words bade anything good for him.

"Four on four…" He muttered, mentally figuring out which pokémon to use. "I accept."

The Saffron gym leader smiled. "I shall choose first." She raised her left hand in the air, palm opened skyward, as a pokeball materialized in her hand. A sight touch of her fingers on the surface, and the ball shivered open, liberating the pokémon within.

The creature that floated on the ground resembled the sun, with a central dirty-orange body with two squinted eyes with crimson pupils, and rocky fragments protruding out of the surface like a corona. Even from the distance, it is pretty sure that the thing was part-rock at the very least. For the nth time, Ash cursed his inability to use Dexter in such situations.

"That is Solrock. A part-rock, part-psychic type." Sabrina offered, as if reading his curiosity from his mind. Knowing her, she probably did that.

"Uh… thanks." Ash felt slightly flustered, before quickly deciding how to address the matter at hand. His choice made, he plucked out a pokeball and raised it up. "Crawdaunt, you are up."

The deep red crustacean appeared between himself and the floating psychic-type. Clicking his pincers, Crawdaunt stared up at his opponent, aiming to intimidate the other, smaller battler he was about to face. Finding no response (save the muffled buzzing that the rock-type was apparently producing), he raised his pincers high up in the air.

"A water and dark type." Sabrina muttered, her tone monotonous. "You may have the first move."

"I will." Ash asserted. "Use water pulse on Solrock."

The crustacean lifted one of his pincers and belched out a water pulse, headed straight at Solrock. The entire thing barely took more than a single second, a testament to his personal training, considering that it took him several seconds to perform the same when Ash had caught him in Vermillion.

It was in vain. One moment, the water pulse was headed straight at Solrock. The other—Solrock was behind Crawdaunt, who stood midway between the water pulse attack and the levitating psychic. It was almost like-

"Counter that water pulse." Ash yelled from his vantage point.

Without further delay, Crawdaunt lifted his other pincer to send a second pulse, the latter slamming into the former in an explosion, wetting the entire arena.

"What—what just happened?" Ash couldn't help himself. Solrock using agility to get behind Crawdaunt was understandable, but shifting _Crawdaunt_ between itself and the water pulse?

"That was not agility." He muttered. "Crawdaunt is a dark type. A foreign psychic move would not work on him so quickly."

" _Of course it won't."_ Sabrina drawled, the serene smile returning to her youthful disposition.

 _Very well, if long-ranged attacks won't do, then I'll have to get close._ He decided. "Use aqua jet."

The rogue pokémon enveloped himself with water, before shooting up towards Solrock, who seemed completely unfazed by it all. The full force of Aqua jet came soaring towards Solrock, a single hit being more than enough to deliver a near-fatal blow to the pokémon.

Sabrina smiled.

In less than a single second, Solrock began to spin, as great streams of fire erupted all over its self, emanating blinding light, one that sent Crawdaunt cringing, closing his eyes to protect itself from the bright flares.

And that was all it took.

Crawdaunt opened his eyes, and founds himself aiming for the floor instead, with Solrock, once again, behind him, belching out a powerful fire-spin right onto him. Before the trainer or his pokémon could comprehend what had happened, Crawdaunt was enveloped in a funnel of flames, before nose-diving into the floor with a large explosion.

Solrock stopped spinning, staring down at its opponent, with its squinted eyes and seemingly-bored expression.

"Crawdaunt," Ash yelled out in worry. "Are you all right, buddy?"

The rogue pokémon lifted his pincers up in the air, the dents and bruises on his exoskeleton visibly distinct, before grunting out defiantly. The stupid know-it-all might have been speedy, but that didn't mean that he would be defeated so easily.

Ash chuckled. "That wasn't a slight on you, my friend. I was just being worried."

Crawdaunt grunted again. His trainer was a worry-wart.

"However," said trainer wasn't done speaking. "I think your abilities would be better served elsewhere. I need you to return." Saying so, his trainer lifted up his pokeball, pressing the red button.

Crawdaunt sighed. Well, at the very least, he would get another chance to battle today. He gave a withering glare at the floating psychic-type once again, before the red light dematerialised him, returning him to his pokeball. Crawdaunt's image on the digital screen levitating on the top went a dull grey, indicating that he was simply returned and not completely unable to continue battling further.

"Guess this is what I get for underestimating the competition." Ash muttered. The Saffron gym was one of the toughest gyms out there, even for someone going by the normal route instead of elevating his trainer status via… _unconventional_ means. The last three gym battles had given Ash the benefit of the _handicap—_ and it was a _horrible_ decision for a trainer to try the Saffron gym for his or her _fourth badge_ in the first place.

So yes, he was screwed. And rightly so. But then… When had something like that ever stopped him?

And Ash Ketchum chose his next pokémon. "I chose you, Magnus!"

The black dragon stood on his hind limbs, his maw lifted up into the air, as he snorted out a thin bluish flame as a declaration of his own power. Of course, Magnus hardly needed to do so, considering his _unusual_ physiological features. Even as a second-stage pokémon, he stood head and shoulders taller than most average Charizards out there. Apparently, whatever must have kept his growth hindered had been… removed, allowing Magnus to quickly reach a more than respective height, enough to send most opponents cowering with relative ease.

"An unusual pokémon." Sabrina commented from her podium. "I am yet to decide if not _seeing_ the future of this battle was a good decision or a bad one."

"Do you often see the future of your battles?" Ash prodded out of curiosity. Being able to see the future was a supreme advantage. That was for sure. If Sabrina did so, it certainly explained why it was so _bloody_ difficult to win past her.

"More often than I would like," the Saffron gym leader answered with relative nonchalance. "You should quell your disgust, Ash Ketchum. I only see the ultimate outcome of my future battles, if only to see if the trainer is worth my time or not."

"I… see." He didn't.

"Interestingly enough, I did not look into the future for this battle. For someone with so less experience, you have certainly moved up in our world, Ash Ketchum, enough for the League to start noticing you, and the... team you have been known to cultivate."

Almost instantly, Cynthia's words replayed into his mind. He had at least one pseudo-legendary on his team. He had the attention of the legendary deities of their world. People found him interesting.

Interesting people stuck on people's minds.

"I'm flattered." Ash answered. "I will try not to disappoint you."

Sabrina just smiled back at him in return. "Let us return to the battle."

In answer to her statement, Solrock emanated an ethereal glow, as the gym leader subtly nodded her head. Instantaneously, the squinted eyes began to glow ominously, as a bluish aura surrounded Magnus from head-to-toe, trying to bind him- a psychic attack in progress.

"Dragon breath." Ash muttered, knowing very well that the black dragon would be able to hear his commands, thanks to his fine auditory abilities. The black dragon opened his maw, and threw off a continuous jet of superheated breath towards his opponent, who instantly _shifted_ to its left, keeping the psychic-lock perfectly under control.

"You cannot break a sepulchre-lock through such crude measures, Ash Ketchum." Sabrina replied helpfully.

Ash scowled. He was here for a gym battle, not be instructed on the art of battling.

Magnus felt his limbs leave the ground, as he was shot upwards into the air almost until he had reached the very apex of the battle arena, before the effect of gravity on him seemed to quadruple in an instant, pummelling him towards the ground, his velocity accelerating greatly with every passing second. At the same time, the floor seemed to tear itself apart as large boulders separated out from the floor, creating a tomb of sorts for the black creature that shot down towards the ground with alarming speed.

However, his trainer had something completely different in mind.

"Magnus, use focus punch on the ground."

With startling efficiency, the black dragon slammed his right hook straight into the hole Solrock had dug for it. The energy of the attack, fuelled by the sheer momentum of Magnus's descent, radiated outwards, blasting broken bits of rock, concrete and dust all over the stadium.

Sabrina's eyes seemed to widen slightly, giving the impression that she had been only, mildly impressed.

"Use agility, and go for the kill."

Ignoring the momentary tinge of pain that had shot through his muscles, the black dragon vanished in a blur, using the momentary sandstorm to keep himself undetected, as he shot towards the floating psychic, tearing into it with his claws, each of which were dripping with dark energies. With a thud, Solrock fell down to the floor, its squinted eyes slightly blurred before it began to slowly levitate itself back, maimed but obviously not incapacitated enough.

"Use focus punch, again!"

With a very narrow miss, Solrock missed the incoming attack, obviously a little disoriented from before. Like most psychics, it found its niche in long-ranged combat, and not in such close quarters. However, Magnus was far from done, as he swept his powerful tail, lashing straight into the psychic pokémon, thrashing it into the floor.

"That will be enough." Sabrina replied, her calm disposition unperturbed. Without a word, she returned the psychic-type back into its pokeball, which teleported away from her palm, as another one appeared in its place. The ball opened up on its own, releasing her next pokémon.

"Jeeengx!" the illusive ice/psychic-type pokémon drawled out.

"A Jynx?" Ash asked, surprised. Jynx were rather rare, what with their natural habitats being limited to only the coldest of locations. In Kanto, the only possible location where a Jynx, or its baby-form could _possibly_ be found would probably be the Icefall Cave in the Sevii islands. He had played with the idea of visiting the Sevii islands during the _Ice-time,_ but that was neither here nor there. Usually, trainers visited the Sevii, and its neighbour Seafoam Islands by taking a ferry from Fuchsia or Cinnabar, though Celadon apparently had a domestic airport for those that had the means to afford it.

"You may have the first move." Sabrina offered.

Ash scowled. Solrock had been an uncanny and rather troublesome opponent. While he had no doubt that Magnus was powerful in his own way, Sabrina's decisions regarding their battle had seemed more… _forced._ Of course, he was not going to complain over it, but considering how the Sun pokémon had been playing with Crawdaunt, something seemed… edgy around here.

He never noticed the slight twist in Sabrina's lips at that very instant.

"Magnus," Ash concentrated, "use Rush and go ahead."

Just like he had done prior to this, Magnus's claws began to drip with dark energies, his own version of the _night slash_ he had learned from Absol, using his agility to maximum benefit. What he did not expect was for Jynx to let out a shriek and _inundate_ the entire arena in a thick blizzard in less than a second, stopping his attack midway, as the severe snowstorm pushed him towards the defensive.

 _Tcch!_ Ash cursed. As a dragon-type, Magnus was weak against ice-type attacks like blizzard. Unlike the sandstorm earlier that had allowed him a situational advantage, the snowstorm was doing the exact reverse. What was more, the snow was decreasing his body temperature to ridiculous levels, having an adverse effect on the dragon type.

 **Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!**

Even amidst the roaring snowstorm, Ash could hear the loud sounds of boulders falling onto the ground, though it was nigh impossible for him to judge the location from his vantage point.

"Magnus? Are you okay? Get back." He shouted.

Unfortunately for the dragon, the roaring snowstorm was too much of an interference for him to comprehend his trainer's commands. The fact that he had four large boulders sandwiching him on all four sides didn't help either. So, he went for what he could do.

With a powerful push using his now slightly injured forelimbs, he pushed the boulders away and slammed his fist into the ground once again, the energies created a miniature earthquake, traversing through the ground. It wasn't enough for Magnus to win, but it was enough to destabilize Jynx for a single moment.

Sabrina's eyes lit up, as the ice-type _levitated_ itself up using sheer psychic intent.

The snowstorm returned with a vengeance.

 _You cannot attack me if you are trapped, and are continuously losing power. Show me what you are capable of, Ash Ketchum._

* * *

For every second Magnus stayed inside that formidable blizzard, he was losing power. That much was clear. The snow piling everywhere on the arena would no doubt be a great hindrance to Magnus's agility, and it would only increase with every passing second. He would either need to return Magnus or do something instantly.

 _Stalling wastes my resources, not hers._ Ash noticed curiously, silently marvelling at the sheer ease with which the Jynx was maintaining the powerful blizzard for what… one minute now? He wasn't the expert but from his own experience, it was _ridiculously difficult_ to maintain that attack for more than _twenty seconds,_ and even that pushed the normal stats by a significant amount. Most trained pokémon could barely manage to sustain it for fifteen seconds before collapsing. There was a reason after all, why Blizzard was one of the top-level moves in the Ice category after all, both in difficulty and sheer efficiency.

And the blatant application of such a ruthless move was occurring right before him.

He closed his eyes. He was at a type disadvantage. His pokémon was trapped inside a powerful trap that was draining its power exponentially. Logic said that he should simply substitute his pokémon with another and continue the battle. But Magnus hadn't given up, and he wouldn't either. It was just like Crawdaunt against Solrock. He had given up then, wouldn't it be prudent to just give up now?

As if in answer to his prayers, the blizzard seemed to slow down, intermittently revealing the effect it had wrought on the arena. The entire floor was frozen with thick lumps of ice all over the place, and a shuddering, shivering dragon in the middle of it. Then, as if to taunt him, the blizzard gained force, revealing it as a mere psychological trick played upon the hapless trainer, showing him the pitiable condition of his pokémon.

"Magnus," Ash had his pokeball raised, all doubts vanished. "Return."

The red light shot out of the pokeball, only to be intercepted by a chunk of ice, as the black draconian creature slammed his tail onto the now frozen floor, revealing his intentions very clearly. He was _not_ going to leave this battle, and certainly not this way. He would go till the very end and defeat the damned ice-type.

"Magnus!" Ash breathed, the sheer determination of his team member infusing him with a certain spiritual strength. He took a moment to appreciate the sheer strength of spirit his friend wielded. "Very well, we will end this. Use Outrage!"

Not unlike a volcano about to belch out the hellfire underneath it, Magnus's entire body shuddered, as his inner-flame expanded outward, drenching him from within, and his body emanating a yellowish glow, visible despite the powerful snowstorm. His eyes bulged out, a dangerous crimson aura flooding his senses.

Outrage was active, and the vengeful dragon was only too happy to use it.

"Draco Meteor." Ash commanded.

It was only too easy. One of the effects of Outrage was a rapid and significant increase of his offensive capacities, sacrificing his mental faculties at the altar of pure, unadulterated strength. And Magnus _roared,_ throwing out an orange blob upwards into the air, which exploded out with a bright explosion.

The Draco meteor fell.

Sabrina's lips twisted for a moment before returning back to her impassive expression.

The Jynx in question, instantly stopped the ongoing blizzard, redirecting its powers to create a dome of pure psychic energy to protect itself from the incoming attack. The first meteor came rushing in, striking at the psychic defense with all the subtlety of a sledge-hammer. The psychic dome shook with the tremors, but held.

The second meteor hit.

A thin line of fracture traversed its way from the origin point of contact, tearing its way through the powerful defense, only to acquire a more three-dimensional shape, as the third meteor slammed into the dome, making the fracture spread out radially, much like a spider spreading its web out.

The fourth meteor hit.

And the defense came shattering down, like some great glass window, hit by an overwhelming force. Yet, amidst it all, Jynx stood in its position, tired and spent, an obvious situation considering what it had just been through—but otherwise, very much active and able to continue the battle.

"A grand spectacle." Sabrina observed, her voice filled with all the awe of a dead man, "but be advised that the challenge in front of you is a psychic, not a rampaging Rock-type."

As if to prove her point, _every single thing_ on the floor—dust particles, stray fragments, boulders, or even residual draconic energy globules—all of that rose up in the air, levitating around fifteen feet above the ground, as if standing in ovation for some cosmic deity who would grace them with its mighty presence. Even from his vantage point, Ash could _feel_ Magnus on his last legs—his determination being the only thing keeping him falling down.

"I know," Ash answered, feeling _unnaturally_ tired than he should have been. Had it been Metagross fighting, the psychic link between the two of them would have siphoned some of the pain and tiredness to him, and that was expected. After all, a psychic link was a door, and they opened both ways.

 _And that,_ Ash decided, _will be my ticket of winning this gym badge._

"I know I am battling a psychic." He repeated. "After all, there is no reason why I should have otherwise done… this."

The moment the final word left his mouth, _something_ happened. The reason for that wasn't clear, but Sabrina's body jerked, as she took a step back, as a tremor radiated through the airspace all around them.

The largest boulder, perfectly levitated in the air until now, shook, before it slowly bounced a little, as if facing atmospheric resistance, before slowly falling down to the ground. Following its movement, several other fragments, and soon the entire amount of debris began falling down to the ground, inundating the entire arena with a miniature dust storm.

When the dust had settled, Ash could see Magnus down on the ground, trapped between two large rock fragments, bruised and battered, and completely incapacitated. Jynx though, stood in its position, almost immaculate except for the dust that had gathered on its fur, without a single scratch.

Well—without a single scratch, save a single thin, jagged mass of concentrated dark energy, that had impaled in its lower abdomen—the energies of the Void doing things to it no human had any business trying to comprehend. And judging from the way Sabrina—the Elite Four Sabrina- was outright _glaring_ at him, it seemed his hypothesis had been right after all.

 _Psychic links were akin to doors, and doors open on both sides._

* * *

"That," Sabrina muttered, as her expressions settled back to perfect composure, "was rather… unsporting, Ash Ketchum. I hope you do know that?"

Ash could barely suppress the grin trying to tear through his face. The odds of the insane plan backfiring on him were atrociously high, and it had all been bet on a single hypothesis. If psychic links worked on both sides, then surely a tremendous pressure on Jynx would get siphoned to Sabrina herself, after all, her own psychic links to her pokémon should be nothing short of superlative. That meant that she would be more… affected with the mental exhaustion, to ignore the possibility of a sneak attack.

That had exactly been the case.

"Tell me Ash Ketchum, how could you be so _reckless,_ to bet on the fact that the Draco Meteor, as powerful as that is,

"It is not every day that a trainer uses a _Draco Meteor_ as a distraction, Ash Ketchum. More so, when one's pokémon is on the brink of losing the tournament. You are more unpredictable than I had anticipated. Forgive me, I shall take you seriously from now on."

Ash barely managed to keep his jaw from falling to the floor. "You mean you weren't taking me seriously all this while?"

Sabrina allowed herself a chuckle. "It is the duty of a teacher to figure out the worth in her students, isn't that correct? And now that I realize you are worth my time… let's dance."

And just like that, Ash felt his slightly raised spirits fall for a new low.

* * *

"My third pokémon," Sabrina proclaimed loudly, "should be enough to end today's challenge. Go, Gallade."

The battler that materialized in front of Ash was the male variant of Kirlia's evolution, Ash realized. Of course, male Kirlia were _very_ uncommon, and even so, it took to having a _Dawn_ Stone—one of the rarest of all evolutionary stones, to evolve a male Kirlia into a Gallade. Even so, it took a special Kirlia to have enough power and potential to evolve into a Gallade, with most of them evolving into their natural evolution as Gardevoir instead. The reason for it has never really been clear why, since apart from the obvious _fighting-type attribute,_ evolution to Gallade has never really demonstrated to have a prominent effect on the Kirlia-line.

"A Gallade, huh?" Ash muttered. "I have heard that they are rather rare. My mother has a Kirlia, but she's not going to evolve into one."

Sabrina's lips twisted in slight amusement at his random comment, but she did not forge a reply back.

"All right," Ash chose his next pokémon, his hidden ace for the fight. Most traditional trainers would have considered the idea of having a hidden ace till the very end as a good strategy, since it allowed for throwing the opponent off-guard when they were least-expecting it.

Most traditional trainers were, in his opinion, idiots. There was no point in keeping an ace hidden till the end, especially when the chance of losing before said _end_ was high. What good was a powerful battler, if he could not use it in the first place? It was almost like being back to Sulphur Island all over again.

His fingers closed upon the pokeball clutched in his palm, as he threw it into the arena. "I choose you, Sylvi."

With a wave of pure otherworldly energy radiating outward, Sylvi made her appearance, the _blackness_ that she wore as a skin shining brightly as her crimson eyes stared at the psychic master, glowing malevolently.

"A Gengar," Sabrina muttered with distaste, as if Sylvi's very presence seemed to make her feel distinctly uncomfortable. "First dark types, then dragons with dark-type move sets, and now this… You seem to have rather odd tastes, Ash Ketchum."

Ash did the only thing that he could at that moment. He shrugged.

And Sabrina-or should one say, Gallade attacked.

It was over in an instant. One moment, Gallade was in its place. The next—it was right in front of Gengar, its fists glowing with raw electricity, which it _punched_ into Sylvi's body, the mere momentum of the attack pushing the Gengar by several feet, much to her aggravation.

"Teleport plus thunder punch, huh?" Ash mused. "Use shadow ball."

Sylvi grinned, as a sphere of concentrated chaotic energy appeared at her fingertips, before she projected it towards Gallade who parried the attack with a single psycho cut. At the same time, Gallade began to glow, before something _radiant_ shot out of his person, exploding outward, as a bright mist appeared all over the arena.

 _Misty Terrain huh? What are the chances?_ Ash mused. It seemed he would have to use the big guns right off the bat. "Very well. Disperse, and converge."

Gengar let out a grin, before slowly disintegrating into a purple mist, which condensed back into a sphere, pulsing with chaotic energies.

Sabrina raised an eyebrow.

"Shadow spike." Ash commanded.

The sphere exploded outward, shooting several dozens of what appeared to be spikes of chaotic energy towards Gallade, who kept shifting all over the place, using his agility in one instant, teleporting the next. The spikes too, didn't just stay in one place, and kept on shooting at Gallade wherever they sensed their appearance.

And then Gallade appeared in the centre of the arena, his arms extended outward.

"Converge."

Following the master's orders, all of the spikes shot towards Gallade in the center, only to be repelled back by the immensely powerful _Protect_ that sprung forth between them and their victim.

"Fuse, and use poison jab."

A majority of the spikes slammed into each other, forming a makeshift spear, which glowed an ominous purple, increasing the potency of the poison within them, before shooting towards Gallade who instantly dropped the barrier, before teleporting away.

"Ominous wind." Ash commanded, not wanting to allow any chance of attack, "Don't let it escape."

In answer, the ghostly spear began to pulse, concentrating its power as Ominous wind activated, increasing Gengar's potency by several degrees, though the spear began leaking out thin strips of ghostly energies into the air, said strips instantly diffusing into the arena, generating a dull, purple mist that was slowly beginning to take over the entire battlefield.

Apparently Gengar's control over Miasma was not as good as Ash had estimated it to be.

Even Gallade was beginning to notice that fact.

 _You can run but you can't hide._ Ash promised inwardly.

* * *

Sabrina Marvil looked like someone had slapped her, right in the face. Of course, the boy—Ash Ketchum, though someone of her own age, had been… interesting, but not _that_ interesting. Of course, she understood the significance of attaining the interest of pseudo-legendaries and legendaries alike, but unlike _Agatha—_ Sabrina thought with a scowl—she had better things to do than to place her _faith_ on something as woolly as that. Most people would say that with the amount of psychic potential Sabrina wielded, she would be the Altar of clairvoyance, believing the existence of grand-prophecies and totems and omens and all of that stuff.

Most people, Sabrina thought, were absolute idiots.

Yes, she had immense psychic potential, but like pokémon, her own potential had their own affinities and limitations. Sabrina had always been somewhat of a _manipulator of force,_ as far as psychic energy was considered, rather than exploring its more… esoteric abilities. Of course, that was not to say that she hadn't cultivated that side of her powers, but they were simply tools at best. That was why she preferred having Alakazam and Bronzong around, and not flocks of Xatu.

Of course, being able to simply see through the sequence and formation of events, and use her mental faculties to calculate permutations and combinations, and select the most… probable path that events were likely shape into… could also be termed as Clairvoyance, by laymen. However, that hardly meant that she could _see through the lines of Time and Fate and locate confluences in quantum time locks of the Multiverse._ Why Lance couldn't see things her way, was beyond her.

Ah Ketchum though, was proving himself to be one tough customer today. The first battle had gone precisely how she had wanted it to be, with Solrock's abilities sending Ketchum's pokémon off-guard right off the bat. The black dragon had potential, but if not for Ketchum's skill at deception, it would have been a hopelessly easy win. However, seeing his Gengar—Sabrina could not care to bring herself utter that _thing's_ name- it became absolutely confirmed that there was Agatha's deliberations at play here. There was no way she would fail to recognize that _hated_ technique of hers being used, though how on Earth had Ketchum managed such a level of control over the technique so quickly was anybody's guess.

"Using my rival's technique to battle against me. I cannot say if you are too confident or too foolish, Ash Ketchum." She proclaimed.

Ash did his best to maintain a composed demeanour. It would not do to give in to her taunts at this point in the battle. Using Miasma was after all, a sure shot way of making Sabrina _angry._ If he were not careful, things could go _very bad_ from now on.

As if to drive the point home even further, Gallade stopped teleporting, standing in patient wait as the spear of Chaos came hurdling towards itself. Almost instantaneously, Ash felt the temperature all around the arena suddenly spike. It took a moment for the implications to sink in, as he stared at Gallade with unfettered fear.

 _OH NO!_

* * *

The trap was visible in less than a second. Harsh sunlight inundated the arena, as Gallade's arms began to glow, with bright orange flames appearing on them- a powerful fire-based attack heading straight towards the incoming trajectory that was Gengar.

Sabrina smiled.

The emerging fireball, propelled by pure psychic force shot towards the approaching spear, colliding with it face-first, with fire spreading through the very essence of Gengar's core, burning her up as the spear exploded violently outward, with the force of a small bomb. In a normal situation, it would mean Gengar getting excessively injured and possibly being rendered incapacitated, with Gallade becoming the winner by default.

There was only _one, tiny little bit_ of complication, something that neither Ash, nor Sabrina had seen coming.

Ash hadn't been wrong. While Sylvi had mastered the basic concepts of the Art of Miasma with considerable proficiency, she was nowhere ready to apply alteration into it mid-construction, which explained the leakage of chaotic energies into the environment all around them. Chaotic energies which were, like the spear itself, extremely vulnerable to flames- chaotic energies that were, as of that very moment, converging toward Gallade, since it was the spear's primary target.

And that made all the difference.

The entire arena exploded, charring Gallade along with it. Especially with the Sunny Day active, fire-type moves, and thus, these explosions were much more powerful than they had any right to be, and the entire mass of matter and gas exploded with a violent discharge of heat, charring the only pokémon that had been caught amidst it.

Silence reigned in the arena for the next ten seconds, as the smoking heap that was Gallade fell down on his knees, however, still very much awake and in the fight. However, Ash only had eyes for the still floating husk of chaotic matter—the burnt and charred remains of Sylvi's Miasma, and he knew it in his heart that it would be hours, if not days before Sylvi gained her corporeal form back again.

All of his training for this battle, all his plans for Gengar, all his…

 _And yet… to fail all the same._

"I…" Ash felt his throat constrict. "I refuse to lose. Not after everything I have been through." He raised his pokeball, and returned Gengar, before shoving his next pokeball into the arena. "I will prevail. Go, Crawdaunt."

Gallade, charred and smoking, somehow managed to get up from his position, forming an attack stance, as he warily glanced at the crustacean, who had appeared in front of him.

"End him. Use aqua jet."

Gallade quickly raised a barrier in time, as Crawdaunt, enveloped inside a considerable quantity of water, shot at his person. He was in no position to keep teleporting, especially with his wounds, and hence, this was going to be a match of plain brute force.

The barrier glowed, before changing form from _Protect_ to _Reflect_ , the change instantaneous, as the Aqua jet slammed against it with tremendous force. The barrier shattered, but the Reflect action sent Crawdaunt tumbling back, using his momentum onto him, and pushing him off into the air.

"Twin pulse." Ash commanded.

Even in air, Crawdaunt opened his pincers, shooting two perfectly created Dark Pulses down to the now defenceless Gallade, hitting him straight in the face.

"Guillotine." Ash went for the kill.

And Gallade shot out a lethal thunderbolt, pushing out all of his energy into the single strike.

Crawdaunt's pincers bit into Gallade's neck, drawing blood, as pure, unadulterated electricity surged through the part water-type, and by extension, into Gallade himself. The next moment, it was all over.

"Both Gallade and Crawdaunt are unable to battle." The referee proclaimed. "Challenger, choose your next pokémon."

Sabrina was not amused.

* * *

Ash stood at his podium, observing the Psychic Master in front of him. Her first choice had been Solrock, a psychic and _fire_ type. The next had been Jynx, a psychic and _ice_ type. Complete reverses of each other, while keeping the psychic element in common. The third had similarly, been Gallade, a psychic and _fighting_ type. He could almost guess what kind of pokémon her fourth and final one was going to be.

"Interesting. To have gotten Gallade down by a _mismanaged_ move of all things." Despite the expression on her face, it was clear that Sabrina was far from amused. "I can see why the League is… interested in you, Ash Ketchum. My last pokémon it is, then." A pokeball appeared in her palm, before her fingers clenched around it, clicking the release button.

"Zong!"

The pokémon in front of him looked like a giant steel bell, with eyes at the apex, with two identical projections on either side forming a rudimentary version of limbs, though Ash felt skeptical if those… _limbs_ were functional or merely vestigial.

"This is Bronzong." Sabrina clarified for him. "A part steel, part psychic. He is going to be my fourth and final battler for this match."

 _Ah. Steel this time. How amazingly poetic to have a high defensive type just right after an offensive one._ Ash marvelled internally at Sabrina's choice of battlers from the very first.

 _All right. What do I do?_ He pondered. He had come in prepared for a six on six, which had shortened to a four on four, allowing him three options that he was allowed to choose from. Of course, he would have wanted Gengar to be the one battling this one, but unfortunately, she was indisposed at the moment. Another part of him wanted to bring out Metagross, if only to see just how much his _psychic/steel_ type fared against Sabrina's. Of course, there was another part of him, the _wildly overemotional_ part that wanted him to include Salamence, and prove it to his starter that he had not ignored him. However, this was a gym battle, and that too against someone like Sabrina. Every single of his actions counted.

That left only one option.

Ash grinned. This… this he could work with.

"Fine then." He lifted his fourth and final pokeball, and was about to throw it out into the arena when Sabrina lifted her left arm, and instantly, Ash felt a temporary petrification get hold of him, enough to stop him in his actions and yet feel distinctly uncomfortable. For all he knew, it was almost like something had just gripped his body and let him free when he had ceased moving.

Before he could voice his confusion, the large steel doors behind him slid open, as three individuals-with two of them being females and the third a young male, all wearing police robes, walked into the chamber. The single male and his compatriot stood at the entrance, while the other female walked ahead, past Ash, past the arena, walking on _psychically-created road_ Sabrina had temporarily constructed by her own power, as the officer walked up to her.

"Report."

The woman took out what Ash understood to be some kind of screen-based device, not unlike his own Xtransceiver, only much larger in size. The screen lit up, and from her expressions, Ash could figure out that it was anything but good news. The officer spoke a little more to the gym leader, before Sabrina lifted her palm again, signalling the woman to leave them. Finally, she turned to Ash.

"It seems we will have to discontinue our battle, Ash Ketchum. I have some urgent business to take care of first."

Suppressing his instinctive need to exclaim his surprise at such an uncommon request, Ash reminded himself of who it was he was talking to at the moment. "Is… Is something wrong?"

"You…" Sabrina paused momentarily, before continuing, "could say that. As of now, Saffron city is at war with Team Rocket."

"What?" Ash exclaimed. "Team Rocket?" He paused, embarrassed at his outburst. "I mean… can I do anything to help?"

Repressing her initial instinct to deny his offer on the face, Sabrina considered it. She would have instantly denied his offer, quoting his lack of experience as a trainer, with only six months or so under his belt. Then she remembered his position as an Intermediate-level trainer, and his actions at the St. Anne. After a few seconds of thought, she conceded. "One of the members of the ongoing terrorist attack have been identified. I believe you might recognize him, from the events at St. Anne."

"St. Anne?" Ash's mind instantly raced ahead, remembering the cruel and malevolent Team Rocket Admin Steven had been battling, before remembering the Admin he had faced back at Mirage Archipelago. A wave of anger shot through him, as strong emotions of rage flooded his mind.

"The Team Rocket member we managed to identify was one of the participants in the St. Anne Challenge, and apparently, one of the winners as well. His name is Harrison. Harrison Miller from Little Root Town, Hoenn."

* * *

 **AN: And I am back from the dead. Whoa! It has been a long break, which initially started as an aftermath of a temporary burnout from my over-indulgent posting schedule. That however, extended into another month-long vacation I took with my family. But no worries, I am back and so is Legend.**


	36. Strangers and Illusions

**Just after the St. Anne Attack.**

" _Are you sure you will be all right, Harrison?"_

 _Harrison Miller turned warily to his compatriot, the one he had aided in getting rid of the last traces of the Rocket grunts, in the aftermath of the devastation that was the battle between that creature, and that gigantic specimen of a Dragonite, if it might even be called a Dragonite that is. He wasn't exactly sure what had caused the powerful dragon to awaken from the depths of the ocean, but he sure wasn't going to complain. The worse part was-he somehow had a sneaking suspicion that his friend and competitor Ash Ketchum had something to do with it, given how Cynthia had been glancing at his fallen form occasionally. That was of course, not counting that unfairly large specimen of a Pidgeot—seriously, it seemed like the world had started becoming more and more unreal ever since he had set foot in Vermillion city and…_

 _Well... after he had encountered Ash._

 _Harrison glanced at his unconscious and nearly comatose friend, who had just narrowly avoided a gruesome death thanks to the avian's timely evolution into that thing, not that he was complaining or anything._

" _I'm unsure if you have all the luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Ash."_

" _Or perhaps the right place at the right time?" The sudden voice which he registered to be Cynthia's, spoke from behind him._

 _Harrison sighed. "No, I think my version is more apt. The world made much more sense before I met this guy."_

 _Cynthia chuckled at that. "For the life of me, I cannot argue against that statement." She paused for a moment. "Don't worry. He's gonna be all right."_

 _Harrison turned to face her. "You seem awfully confident about that, given your limited interaction."_

" _I'm a Champion. We have a right to be confident." Cynthia bragged haughtily, though the amusement in her tone betrayed her expression._

" _Point taken." The brown-haired trainer accepted it, as he cast a wide glance at his surroundings. "So… what happens now?"_

" _Mirage Archipelago seems closer, or at least, that's what Steven told me. We have to get Ash to the Hospital there." She hesitated, "but I cannot really do that until everything is taken care of."_

" _You go." Harrison offered. "I'll stay back with Steven for a while, to see if I'm needed." Personally, he didn't think he would be needed, considering the message from the coast-guards, saying that more League personnel would be arriving in any moment. "You get him to the hospital. Those wounds look rather serious."_

 _Cynthia looked conflicted. "I… I owe you one for this."_

 _He waved it away. "Don't bother. The brat saved my ass before this. It is the least I could do."_

 _Cynthia blinked, before replying. "You are a good man, Harrison. Don't let anyone tell you any different."_

 _He laughed at that. "Sure. I'll keep that in mind." He was quite sure he had concealed the hollowness in his laughter. "I'll just hang around for now, and after that, I think I'll just leave for home."_

" _Do you have a water-type?"_

" _My Blastoise should do."_

" _Good enough." Cynthia opened her mouth to say something more, but then decided against it. "Very well."_

 _Harrison chuckled. "Very well."_

 _Without further delay, the Sinnoh Champion climbed on her infamous Garchomp's back, as the tremendously large avian swept off with Ash's unconscious form clutched tightly in her claws, though even from his vantage point, he could clearly see the bird trying to ensure that her trainer was not… uncomfortable in her grasp. It reminded him of his silly Arcanine, who was resting at Oak's ranch—thanks to Ash. He would have to ensure that he asked Professor Birch to get him back._

 _Several steamer boats were already visible in the horizon, the bright fog lights on them vivid, despite the slight mist all around._

" _Seems I was right. There is no need of my help anymore." He muttered to himself. He cast a casual glance at Steven, who caught his eye, before nodding back. Harrison nodded in reply._

 _Sighing, he lifted a pokeball from his belt, releasing the beast within, out into the somewhat calm sea waters. "Blastoise... it is time for us to return. Are you up for a long journey?"_

 _The long, extenuated grunt from said pokémon was supposed to be his proclamation of agreement- or so, he assumed. Not wanting to delay, he easily climbed aboard the giant turtle, getting himself a comfortable position behind one of the cannons on the back. "Let's go, buddy. We head north."_

 _Blastoise let out a grunt, before pushing himself forward, his hind limbs easily pushing the water backward, aiming for a straight trajectory to the nearest landmass in the north. By his own estimations, he supposed he would reach his destination before the first rays of the morning sun._

" _I guess…" Harrison muttered, as he pushed himself into a comfortable position, the strain of the entire night slowly catching up his bones. "I will get myself a little bit of rest while I have it. It seems it short supply."_

 _It wasn't long before the Hoenn Trainer drifted off._

…

…

…

" _Toise!"_

 _The deep grunt from his pokémon woke him up from his nap. Harrison rubbed his eyes, feeling the sting as overwhelming tiredness threaten to inundate him, but somehow, he managed to push his straining form up from the comfortable position he was in. From the look of things, they had traversed quite the distance, since the St. Anne wasn't visible, but they were quite far from the mainland as of yet._

" _What's wrong Blastoise? Why did you…" His words almost stopped midway in his throat… "—stop?"_

" _I see you have had your siesta…"_

 _All traces of tiredness evaporated out of him, as a calm demeanour washed over him. "...You."_

 _The man standing in front of him merely grinned, though not necessarily with malevolence. In fact, his eyes were shining, like he had been handed an invaluable gift he didn't know he wanted in the first place. "How… surprising that I would come across you like this, especially so close to Hoenn? How very… serendipitous, don't you think?"_

" _Pierce." Harrison stood up, still standing on Blastoise's shell, as the gigantic turtle regarded the others warily. Sensing his pokémon's wariness, he gently rubbed one of the cannons with one hand. "Don't worry. We're good."_

" _Of course, you are." Pierce chortled. "You have made a big name for yourself, over here. Second in the St. Anne Challenge."_

 _The Hoenn trainer didn't dignify that statement with a reply._

" _You must be feeling proud of yourself." The Team Rocket Executive continued, sarcasm dripping in his tone. "After all, you decided to follow the path of mediocrity over power."_

" _You and I remember Team Aqua very differently, Pierce. Besides, it seems 'success'"—he raised his fingers to raise quotes in the air— "didn't favour you. After all, here you are, a fledgling of Team Rocket, or have you started selling yourself to the highest bid-"_

 _The rest of his words died in his throat—instead, he focussed on the long, and very, very sharp steel pointed at his throat._

 _Harrison sighed. "And here I thought my life wasn't in any danger, 'brother'."_

* * *

 **Present Day.**

Harrison. She said Harrison. _Harrison from Little Root Town in Hoenn._

The first three seconds passed silently, but Ash Ketchum had come to a pause, his logic and pragmatism completely shut down for a moment, as his mind tried to comprehend the possible implications of that statement.

Harrison had been one of the _identified_ members of the _Team Rocket_ group that had attacked Saffron city. Sabrina had said.

His mind went back to what he remembered of the elder boy. Harrison had been the helpful elder-brother that had aided him getting acquainted with Vermillion, and had gotten him a room when he hadn't managed to find one. Harrison had been the one to take his word and try to solve the power issues in Vermillion. Harrison had been the one to aid him fight against the grunts at Commerce City. Harrison had been the one who defeated him fairly in the Challenge. Harrison had been the one who had _saved his life_ from that Team Rocket Admin.

And yet… Sabrina said that Harrison was in Team Rocket.

It didn't fit. It didn't fit at all. There had to some— "Sabrina!" Ash nearly yelled out, catching both Sabrina and himself by surprise at his overly loud tone. "I mean, are you _absolutely sure_ that it was Harrison? He's my friend and he'd never join the filth that is Team Rocket."

"So, you say." Sabrina replied offhandedly, exchanging a meaningful glance with him, as she lifted her hand, and the screen shot off towards Ash, levitating in front of his eyes. And there it was, perfectly captured in the frame—Harrison, just as he remembered, only this time, dressed in Team Rocket grunt outfit, and leading several other grunts in front of the Pokémon center. For a moment, all sorts of theories ran across his mind, ones that told him that this was all a giant mistake, reminding him of how Harrison had been nothing but an honest person and trainer—as well as ones that began to seed doubts in his mind, searching for clues that would have proved all of the brown-haired trainer's behaviour as nothing but a carefully prepared façade. Ash wasn't sure which was right, and which wasn't.

"You still think it is a mistake?"

Ash opened his mouth, but then decided against it. Finally, he let out a sigh of resignation. "If you allow me, I can face him. I faced him back at the Anne. I know how he fights."

Sabrina was almost about to chastise him about how an _Ace_ needn't not bother with Harrison's manner of battling-who was, an Intermediate-rank trainer at best. However, she didn't proceed with her words, and instead- "In that case, I want you to go with her," she pointed out to the woman standing at the entrance— "and check if the Police stationed at the Pokémon center need any aid. You have full permission to escape should the situation turn out to be over-strenuous for you. The League will not hold it against you."

"I won't." Ash answered stubbornly. "My pokémon need treatment. Helping to secure the Center only helps me. Trust me, I and my team can help."

Sabrina appeared to hesitate for a moment, before coming forth to a decision. "Get what you need. You might not have time for it later."

Said trainer had already taken the opportunity to pick out some more pokeballs out, replacing the three from his belt to the bag on his back. "I'm ready."

Sabrina nodded quietly, before raising her palm, facing Ash. The usual feeling of psychic-induced teleportation grabbed him, as the trainer from Pallet was whisked away to his destination.

* * *

Before the feeling of being displaced from one point to another at speeds twice the speed of sound could have registered, the transportation was over, leaving a slightly shaken Ash a few yards away inside the lane next to the Pokémon center. Before he could get over the sudden feeling of nausea, there was a sudden flash of intermittent, bright light, leaving behind one of the female police officials he had met at the gym.

"Ash Ketchum," He introduced, extending his hand towards the woman, who seemed to look at him like he was merely adding to her existing baggage of problems.

"Emily." The woman, a brunette with long, flowing hair and accentuated feminine features, replied with a slight head jerk, before looking away towards the building at the end of the lane. "You sure you are up to this, kid?"

Shoving his inner indignation aside, Ash nodded, making no attempt to hide the scowl on his face. "I am."

"I'll be the judge of that." The woman went ahead to mutter something incomprehensible under her breath, before giving him a side-glance. "The Gym Leader sent you, so I'll take it that you can handle your way through the grunts at least."

"Where is Sabrina? Wouldn't she fight off Team Rocket?"

Emily's lips frowned at the remark. "The _Gym Leader_ has more responsibilities than to face off every single skirmish by herself, _boy."_ A somewhat haughty expression floated on her face. "Team Rocket has attacked on the Center, _and_ the Commercial Estate,"—Ash paled at that— "and we think that these two might be mere distractions for a third attack, at a much more important location."

"The Silph Co. Labs." Ash mumbled, realizing what she was hinting at. It was no secret that Saffron City housed the prestigious Labs of Silph Co., along with the main administrative offices of the company. An attack on the labs would be crippling for Kanto as a whole. "So, Sabrina is at the-"

"Sabrina is off where she thinks is best." The police official gave off a professional response, pointing at the direction of the Pokémon center. "There should be a team already defending against those idiots, so I will cover for you. Your job will be to get into the Center and see if you can take out the ones that might have gotten past the security. Is that clear?"

"Why can't I just fight alongside—DUCK!" Ash yelled, leaving the rest of his words unsaid, as he leapt on the woman, pushing her to the left, as a shaft of liquid light came gunning down at her—probably a stray attack that had missed the target or gotten deflected off its trajectory. That was immediately followed with a deafening explosion. Both he and Emily hit the dusty ground, as the attack—a concentrated hyper beam that had been deflected away, missed them by several inches, before hitting the neighbouring wall, creating a miniature crater on the surface, throwing up an array of dust and concrete fragments.

"Are—are you okay?" Ash yelled, slightly disoriented with the loud sound that had shocked his eardrums. Tiny pieces of concrete hit his back, and if not for the jacket, would have maimed him significantly.

"Stop yelling!" Emily snapped, her eardrums paining, and with some effort, she managed to push her hands off, out to the ground, pulling herself to the side, while Ash pushed himself off. "I—you-" Still slightly disoriented, she reached for a pokeball.

"That was—" She began to speak, "well-timed. I cannot believe I missed something like—WAIT, where the hell do you think you're going?"

Ash had already sprinted off towards the end of the lane, turning towards the source. The last thing that Emily managed to spot was a single pokeball that the trainer held in his hand as he ran past.

"…shit!"

* * *

When he had left the building earlier in the morning, the Saffron city Pokémon Center had been a large complex, sprawling out over three hundred yards, with the Greenhouse and a miniature corral at the back, occupying another four hundred yards. With Saffron city being one of the three main centers of commerce, the pokémon center was perhaps one of the largest in entire Kanto, second only to the one in Celadon. The entire place was home to the latest medical technology with enough provisions to run without a hitch for over a week without severe issues. Now though, the entire thing looked like a war-scarred area, with several of the outer pillars completely shattered, with the north-western compound completely decimated and fallen to the ground. Even from the distance, Ash could see around a dozen grunts—all of them wearing Team Rocket regalia, with only the leader—Harrison, with his head gear removed, for everyone to see. Fighting against their pokémon were a squad of Saffron Police Department, though Officer Jenny was nowhere to be seen. He pushed off the bitter feeling of betrayal, his fingers reaching for the balls in his belt. From his vantage point, Ash could count a maximum of five officials, somehow managing a defense against the onslaught. Almost in cue, Harrison's Blastoise—which somehow looked stronger and more malevolent to Ash—let out an earth-splitting roar, before blasting at the defending squad with two powerful jets of water.

And the reality of the situation just… sunk in. He saw Harrison—his face without a mask on, for everyone to see.

And something in him… broke.

All this time, he had had doubts in his head about Harrison's shift of mentality and allegiance to something as sinister as Team Rocket, about something extremely fishy in the entire thing, alongside worry regarding the attack. He had had enough of Team Rocket from his very first experience at Mount Moon. The battle of St. Anne, and the massacre at the Forest had only scarred him with nothing but immense hatred towards these… these terrorists, who didn't care who or what suffered as long as their own desires were fulfilled. But seeing Harrison openly attack others like that—it triggered something vicious inside his mind. The righteous anger had flickered and died, and instead replaced by a cold blizzard.

For a moment, he felt an alien presence inside his mind, expressing amusement at his thoughts- only managing to propel his cold rage with every growing second. His fingers twitched, as he prepared his stance. If Team Rocket wanted a battle so hard, a battle is what they would get.

He threw off three balls off his fingers into the ground, as his team materialized in front of him, all of them staring at the ongoing destruction with boundless fury.

* * *

The plan had been simple, and yet, highly effective. Attack on the nerves of the city, and everything would go into turmoil. Besides, the _legendary psychic_ that had devastated the Anne was there, in case something went wrong. The _creature—_ they did not know its name—had proved to each and every single grunt that it was infallible, and omnipotent, or at least the closest thing to that description. Not even the Champions together had stood a chance against its fearsome wrath, and the Boss had revealed that the _Creature_ had merely been playing with them.

The attack on the Center and the Pokemart went perfectly, creating mass panic and diverting the police squad to the two zones. It would leave a perfect spot to attack the Labs, a job that would be carried out by Executive Cassidy and Arianna. Just one of them was strong enough to send even the Ace trainers running with their tails between their legs, but with the two of them together—it was overkill, and the Grunts knew it. As for this one, the objective was simple. Keep the attack on, and by extension, a distraction. Should they get their hands on anything substantial—they would be playing for keeps.

"The compound is unguarded." One of the grunts—Michael, a lad of seventeen, spoke up. "We should get in and capture the pokémon inside. Petrel would be happy with-"

"Hey Assholes!"

"…" Michael looked up, his face contorted with fury at the crass words, only to scream out in fear, as humongous wings—each of them spanning at least ten feet—slammed into him, or rather one of the wings did—lifting him bodily and slamming him into the ground, several yards away. A monster of a Pidgeot-her wings creating massive gusts of wind, forcing most of the pokémon off their feet, screeched with indignation, as the person sitting on her back spoke again.

"Flamethrower."

"…" For a moment, Michael seemed slightly confused at how a Pidgeot—if that thing could be called a Pidgeot, use Flamethrower, when another infernal roar shook the heavens, as a bluish dragon of the size of a Charizard with red wings soared above them, before drenching the frontal assault team, composed of Weezing, Arbok and Magnemite—with scorching flames.

The police officials looked up at the sudden intruder with looks varying from shock to confusion to outright elation, their pokémon using the moment to retreat and take a better stance. The two pairs of Growlithe that had been maimed while taking Blastoise's attack head-on, whimpered as they limped back to their trainers, who were busy pulling out rejuvenation sprays to treat the more immediate injuries.

"Blastoise, use hyper beam!" Harrison replied coldly, not even registering Ash's presence as he aimed at the Salamence in the air.

"Long time no see, Harrison." Ash raised his voice, his tone judgemental, attracting the brown-haired trainer's attention, as the hyper beam missed Salamence by several feet. "But first, someone else wants to say hello!"

The tidal wave from the collision came first, the sound a little later, as Blastoise was bodily thrown back, the gigantic turtle crashing into the street, throwing up rocks and concrete as it did. The smoke died a little later, and finally, everyone registered the steel behemoth on the ground, his two iron appendages raised upwards and glowing with a lethal glow. Up in the air, Salamence let out a furious roar, as he showered the frontlines with another burst of dragon breath.

Seeing their major battler smashed down into the ground, their frontline attackers pushed back, helpless against the might of the flying dragon, the grunts pushed back, standing a little further from Harrison—their pokémon still maintaining a defensive stance from the sudden attacker that had all but destroyed the operation.

"Ash." Harrison acknowledged. "It seems like the months have been good to you. You weren't this focussed in battle back then."

Ash didn't reply. Instead, he simply stared at his friend, or someone he had believed to be his friend—as Salamence and Metagross took up position on either side of the giant Pidgeot. A demonstration of pure power, and an open challenge.

"Do you think that you would win simply because of an evolved team?" Harrison asked evenly. "I have pokémon that can match yours and win, Ketchum."

 _All right. We definitely are not friends any more._ Ash concluded. "Salamence, attack Harrison."

Before Harrison could even retort back, he had jump back in shock, his pokeballs falling off from his fingers, as they rolled down to the ground, barely manging to escape the hot, scorching flame that the dragon sent his way. The rolling pokeballs were caught up by a psychic force—possibly Metagross—and levitated to Ash's hands, who caught them, placing them inside his pocket.

"Not fighting fair anymore?" Harrison sneered, though the frustration in his voice was pretty evident.

"I don't think we are in any position for a fair battle anymore." Ash muttered, more to himself than to him. He released the other pokémon in his belt, as Poliwrath, Alakazam and Gyarados materialized around him. None of them required any telling about the hostile nature of the situation they were in.

 _Do you intentionally get into such situations, midget?_ Alakazam communicated, though no less ready to attack at a second's thought.

 _I try._ His trainer replied dryly, before addressing the audience in front of him. "From what I see, your team could not manage to break past the defenses of the police, despite you having a 3 to 1 advantage. Now though…"

No one moved.

Ash sighed. "I suppose I didn't make it clear. This is a threat. Yield immediately, or else your little hunting party will become the prey."

Silence pervaded for ten, long seconds, before a yell from the other side of the street attracted Ash's attention. A large truck had been bodily raised up by Harrison's Blastoise, and thrown in Ash's general direction.

"…what?"

"Met-taaaa!" Metagross roared, slamming the full force of a Flash Cannon straight into the incoming vehicle, destroying it mid-flight, the water evaporating rapidly, and covering the entire street with mist. Ash thought he heard a cracking sound, but before Pidgeot could shove the mist off, Harrison and his team had vanished.

 _They must have had a psychic ready for a quick retreat._ Metagross communicated, reminding Ash of the way the Team Rocket Executive had escaped with an Abra at the last moment.

 _I guess so._ His trainer surmised, nodding at the steel behemoth for a job well done.

"Impressive." Ash recognized the voice as Emily, who had arrived behind him. "Didn't think you had it in you, Ketchum."

"Well, the situation demanded something a little dramatic." Ash chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Good job, guys. Team Rocket's gonna be pissed."

"Yes." Emily agreed with a bright, beaming smile, before her expressions inverted. "At you. You stopped _them_ from getting what they wanted. Do you think this will have no repercussions?"

Ash scowled. "Listen Madam, all I did was to help you guys protect the-"

"I'm pretty sure that the 'help you guys' was replaced with 'take them head on by myself' somewhere in the middle. You are not a cop, Ketchum. Don't try to pretend that you are one." Emily raged. "If anything would have happened to you, the gym leader would have my hide, for your stupid little- what? Is there something you want to say?" She changed course, registering the angry glare Ash was sending at her.

"No. I'm perfectly fine with just thinking it." Ash muttered coldly, before returning his team back to the pokeballs. With one jab at his pocket, he threw off the three balls he had snatched from Harrison. "These are pokémon enslaved by those terrorists. Try not to get them killed on your watch."

"Why you little-" Emily began, but before she could finish, the black-haired trainer on the Pidgeot had swooped off into the sky.

 _Damn!_

* * *

The Pokemart lay in ruins. Even from his vantage point from above, the entire area seemed more akin to a warzone than what had been a busy centre of commerce for the Kanto mainland a few hours ago. The glass panes along the southern wall of the Pokemart had shattered from what seemed to be a detonation from the inside, with tiles and glass littered on the ground. The stalls were on fire, the entrances destroyed, and the medic teams were in a hurry, transporting whoever survived the catastrophic disaster. Half the Pokemart had fallen in from the middle, and by the look of things, it would take a long time before things would turn to normal.

It was like being on St. Anne all over again.

Pidgeot flapped her wings, blowing glass and dust all around, before she landed on the ground, allowing Ash to jump off her back, before letting out a screech and taking off to the air once again. Pidgeot, Ash was discovering, didn't really like to stay on the ground—and if possible, would even prefer to sleep in the air, had that been an option.

However, currently he had eyes for a single individual a few yards in front of him.

Sabrina.

The Psychic-Master and Elite Four member seemed to stand and stare at the devastation all around her. Ash didn't blame her.

"… Sabrina?"

"Ash Ketchum." The psychic master answered, her tone devoid of emotion. She did not even look back at him. "I can hardly recognize this place. Can you?"

Ash didn't know how to answer that.

"I could be rhetorical and ask if a worse thing was possible. But we both know that you have seen worse."

Yeah, she was talking about the Anne all right. Her tone was quite ominous in its own way. Ash didn't know what to think of it, but it sure wasn't to his liking. "Yes…" he mustered a reply.

"Tell me Ash Ketchum, have you perchance, heard of a psychic by the name of Olympia Flores?"

"I can't say I have." Ash muttered, taking a step closer.

"Olympia Flores is a Gym Leader in Anistar City of the Kalos region. There are those in our world that call her a genius. I am one of them. I also consider her a Charlatan, though the two aren't that far apart when it comes to psychic manipulation."

"…"

"My powers are more along the manipulation of force, and calculation. Olympia's… are more in the esoteric fields—in fact, there is an entire cult that follows her as the High Priestess of some age-old pagan deity. Either way, because the powers of the _Creature,_ or as I am told, _Mewtwo,_ seems to be restricting my powers more than I can be comfortable with, I had to turn to Olympia, to look past the confluences of the timestream and look into the future, so that we might be able to discern something about the person running Team Rocket from the shadows. I must admit, even my own psychic powers haven't been able to get any information out of the captured Executive Arianna Ortega."

"You captured an Executive?" Ash blurted out, unable to help himself. "That should give you a lead, right?

"Her battling skills are just as her mind." Sabrina replied nonchalantly. "Empty."

"…"

"Today morning, Olympia sent me a missive. She said that the Leader of Team Rocket is shrouded in darkness no psychic can penetrate." Sabrina paused. "She also sent a second message, for _you."_

Ash felt his throat constrict. "For… me?"

Sabrina turned around. "She said, and I quote… _when the seal breaks, your destiny will be shrouded in darkness no psychic can penetrate,_ end quote. I suggest you think about it deeply, Ash Ketchum."

Ash swallowed. "I… I don't understand what that means."

Sabrina sighed. "I am afraid I don't either. Should I have had come to a conclusion, things would be different." She cast a sad glance at the debris all around her. "I am afraid that our battle cannot be concluded, not with the scheme of things around."

"I understand-" Ash began. It seemed he would have to try his luck some other time. Chances were, with the attack, Sabrina would possibly be busy for over a month.

"—that said, I have determined your calibre from the first three fights. Which is why, I think you should have this." She raised her palm out, as a glittering, heart-shaped, pink badge appeared in her palm. "The Marsh Badge. As gym leader, I recognize you as the recipient of this badge."

"But—but I didn't even win. It was a draw." Ash gushed. "At best, it was just a-"

"Be as it was, you insufferable boy," Sabrina seemed slightly put out by his reaction. "I am not presenting it out of pity, but in acknowledgement. I recommend you not question my decision."

Ash wasn't a genius by any lengths, but he did know when the situation demanded that he shut up and suck it up, whatever the situation yielded out to him. He gratefully accepted the badge, nodding his head towards the psychic master. "Thank you."

"Route 8 seems like a preferable option for you. It even has a Pokémon center." With that, Sabrina teleported away, leaving a gobsmacked Ash Ketchum behind.

* * *

 _Well, it seems like that woman threw you out of her city._

"For the life of me, I cannot argue against your logic." Ash muttered, a scowl marring his face. He had been walking alongside Aoi along Route 8, one that led travellers from Saffron city to Celadon, crisscrossing several stops in the middle. He had had enough flying for the day, and wanted to cover the path walking—or at least, that was the official excuse. The truth was perhaps something along the lines of—he was puzzled at Sabrina's words and wanted to talk about it to someone, preferably one who had her own share of esoteric and incomprehensible experiences.

Like the golden Ninetales that accompanied him everywhere for example.

"At least I have a badge to make the entire thing count." Her trainer replied morosely. "The police officer yelled at me for forcing Team Rocket back. I helped the gym leader and she literally threw me off her city. It's almost like I'm being punished for doing good deeds."

 _Are you sure that the badge wasn't just her way of feeling better for throwing you out?_

Ash looked utterly horrified by her discernment. "But she just-" His words died in his throat at Aoi's howls.

"Good to know that you still believe that you have a sense of humour."

The vulpine's chortles stopped in an instant.

"Either way," Ash felt the mood fall again. "I certainly did not expect Harrison to turn out like… like…"

 _A traitor?_ Aoi supplied helpfully.

"Yes, that." Ash went on. "I first thought that there must have been a mistake of some sort, that he might be under some psychic compulsion or something, or something sinister might have happened to him. But he was… it was real. I was wrong."

 _And how did you arrive at that conclusion?_

Ash pulled out his Xtransceiver. "This is connected to the Hoenn Regional Database. Unlike what I thought, this doesn't limit to knowledge of pokémon alone. With my access as a League-associate, I can access some public records of people belonging to the Ever-Grande League."

Aoi nodded her head.

Ash went on. "Harrison Miller. Brother of Pierce Miller. Suspected Members of Team Aqua. Apparently, they are obsessed with something involving legendary pokémon over there. Harrison was arrested by the local police and subjected to community service under Professor Birch's command. He was released from service two years later, and came to Kanto for a fresh start, with Professor Birch's sponsorship. Seems like the professor thought Harrison changed his old ways."

Aoi didn't comment.

"Harrison's elder brother Pierce, seems to have a face match-up with Executive Pierce, another of Team Rocket's known Executives. Pierce was the one that attacked Lance and his team to keep him from coming to aid us at the Anne."

 _And you think that your friend was maintaining a cover?_

"I don't know what to think. I just don't. Right now, I'm just confused why Steven or Professor Oak hadn't informed me about this when Harrison had been reported missing. It's not as if they didn't have access to the Database or anything."

 _Human behaviour is often needlessly complicated and prone to emotional shifts, or so I am told._

"You sound like Metagross."

 _I'm nothing like the little steel head._

"Little?"

Aoi didn't dignify his question with a reply.

Ash sighed. It was a good thing he had sent Sylvi, Magnus and Crawdaunt to the Ranch through the Xtransceiver. Having to wait another day at some center wasn't something he was looking forward to. Besides, it allowed him to have some of his team altered to make room for the other members back at the ranch. He was certainly looking forward to seeing a few of them.

 _Where are we heading to?_ Aoi asked enthusiastically, her bright golden tails lifted up in the air, practically exuding royalty as she walked. _Being out like this feels different than being in the wild._

"Pokémon Tech Academy," Her trainer answered. "Misty studies there, and she asked me to visit it when I crossed this area."

And just like that, Aoi felt her enthusiasm extinguish.

"You know… I've been thinking. About that form you took back there on the island. Was that some kind of psychic confusion attack or something?"

Aoi stiffened at that, but continued walking.

"I mean, not even Absol was immune to the effects. We all thought that you were… you know-"

 _Why do you bring this up?_

Ash frowned. "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories. You must-"

 _It's not that. I'm simply curious why you would consider remembering my past actions towards you back at the island. Are you still… skeptical of my allegiance?_

"What?" Ash looked affronted. "Why would you think that? No, it's not like that. I just… wondered what it was like. I mean, even in the forest, you exuded that darkness everywhere, to stop Shel-Salamence and Magnus from fighting. So, I was wondering what about the nature of your own powers."

Aoi sighed. Her trainer was too inquisitive for his own good. Really, why did he have to be all that insightful at times and oblivious every time else?

"Crimson Red Vermillion." Ash continued. "The only things I know is that it is highly dangerous, and pretty much as rare as Legendaries themselves. Not even Agatha could tell me much about it. So, I was wondering if you would… you know,"

Aoi stopped in her tracks.

"—and it would be really—wait, what's wrong?" Ash questioned, turning back to glance at his companion who had abruptly paused midway.

Only there was no Ninetales. Instead, there was the same woman—Aoi, he had encountered back on the island. The curled, black-hair tied down to a ponytail to the back, the heart-shaped face and slightly crimson eyes, the serene expression on her face, her green kimono outfit—it was just like what he remembered. And just like that, the answer came to his lips, as if he had known it all along.

"An illusion."

"It is a deviation from the powers of the all-knowing ones. Some even refer to it as magical, instead of psychic." Aoi _spoke,_ though now that Ash could observe it, he could see her lips actually moving, but her voice was being manifested externally.

He couldn't help it. He moved ahead, and held her hand. The soft skin felt just as real as real can be. He could even feel the slightly raised body temperature—had he not known better, he would have thought this _woman_ had a fever or something.

"This is… amazing." Ash admired, making her _blush_ slightly. "Are you sure this is just an illusion?"

"What did you expect? That your hand would pass through mine like it was air? The solid real it feels, the better the illusion. Are you done feeling my skin or would you like some more?"

"I…" Ash literally jumped back, embarrassed at her teasing. "I—I'm done."

"If you say so." Aoi tilted her head to the left. "I must admit the prospect of maintaining this form for long is not something I've ever tried. Perhaps I should try to expand my limits."

"You mean, you can stay like this? Instead of, you know, your normal form?" Ash asked, curious.

"I cannot say I have done this before. It should be interesting to try." Aoi replied.

"…whoa!" Ash muttered under his breath.

Aoi blushed. "I'm flattered you like it." Without further ado, she walked up to him, and put her hand through his elbow, much to his embarrassment. "Let's go."

It was merely a trick of the afternoon light that made it seem like Ash was blushing. There was nothing more to it.

* * *

The Pokémon Tech Academy was a symbol of the slow but certain privatization of the way things ran in the world. It could very well be considered a form of government that ran parallel with the existing administration of the Leagues, and yet, enjoyed a peaceful coalition with them. Unlike most trainers out there surviving out in the wild, catching wild pokémon and training them to become better, stronger and efficient battlers and then participating in the League Conferences, the Academy students were allowed a more sophisticated alternative.

There was no need to go out in the wild to catch pokémon. Hundreds of pokémon, local and exotic, were made available thanks to the Academy's partnering with the Reserves in Kanto and adjoining nations. The Academy had its own share of pokémon breeders who ensured that the brought-in pokémon stayed healthy. The students could _catch_ these pokémon in a controlled, safe environment, that was often made to mimic the wild through psychic manipulation of the senses. It made it safer for the aspiring trainers, and more comfortable for parents who did not prefer their children risking their lives out in the wild.

However, that did not, in any way, mean that these students were slobs. The Academy ensured a rigorous training regimen, both in theory and practice, from simulations to actual battle-practice, ensuring that the students were able to harness the complete strengths and abilities of their pokémon, and become better trainers. Often, the Academy would visit a Type-Master as a visiting professor to test their skills. After a training period that ranged from one to three years depending upon the student's strength and diligence, the Academy would pronounce him or her ready for their final entrance exams, and once said student passed out with flying colours, they were given an Intermediate Trainer ID, stating that they had acquired all Eight Badges as required by the Indigo Conference, and pronounced ready to participate in the Conference.

The direct entry of the Academy students into the Conference had initially attracted a lot of remonstration from the masses, before the Indigo League issued a circular, stating that it had found the training system employed by the Academy to be _decent enough_ to cover the experience of the average trainer with eight badges under their belt. There were a lot of protests about how it was simply a way the League was bending down to appease the Elite and the wealthy sections of the society. However, with Lance's direct proclamation, the protests soon died down.

This was the school that Misty went to. Of course, Ash didn't know very much about her course of study, only that she hadn't taken the standard programme and instead focussed on the breeding and training of water-types, and become a Water-Master. It was rather unorthodox, but not unprecedented. Usually, the old clans, obsessed with mastery over a single type chose this option. Of course, most of the above usually preferred private study in their own mansions. Perhaps, Misty and her sisters would have chosen the same, if not for her parents' unfortunate demise years ago.

Ash and Aoi stepped up at the grand entrance of the academic institution, the former feeling slightly odd and, if he were honest with himself, slightly inadequate at the majestic edifices all around him. For someone from a reasonably modest family with an average lifestyle, Ash felt slightly out of place.

Aoi seemed to have sensed him stiffen up a bit, causing her to send him a meaningful look, only for him to shake his head in answer. Without further ado, the two walked past the entrance gates, encountering the security team at the outer gates. On showing the card Misty had given him back in Cremini Town, one of the security personnel directed him towards one of the larger buildings in the entire complex, asking him to submit for identification at the next security station.

It was all he had expected, and so much more. The institution had dozens of acres of land, just for pokémon training, specialized gym equipment, breeders and private teachers who taught the students everything they would need to learn without being in the wild. It was in itself, an artificial niche created for Trainers.

 _Anything wrong?_ Aoi communicated mentally, squeezing Ash's right arm a little as she did. Ash just shook his head in denial before walking ahead. The two of them had walked the better part of two miles before arriving at a Pokémon Center, where he had spent the night with his team. Come next morning, he had renewed his journey, and finally he was here, on his first stop on the way to Celadon city. Aoi had seemingly stuck to reforming her illusion of her _young woman_ illusion, only this time fashioning herself in a modern-day attire, with a purple top and a white mini skirt, with black lycra shorts, and sneakers. Apparently, she could transform into anything and stay inconspicuous as long as people weren't particularly paying attention to her.

"Nah, just thinking." Ash murmured, as the pair walked through the lanes, with grassy lawns on either side. A little further to the south, they could see a group of students yelling enthusiastically—a pokémon battle, Ash guessed. A second later, his suspicion was proved correct as an Ivysaur fell out amidst the converging audience, with a black-haired boy breaking out of the mob, to get his pokémon back.

"I want to watch how other people of your age battle." Aoi _spoke._ It wasn't so much as a demand as it was a request borne from knowledge that her trainer would not deny her over something so common.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "I thought you disliked battling."

"One's interests and proclivities are two completely different things." Aoi replied flippantly, only for her trainer to roll his eyes.

"Fine. Let's see how trainers my age battle."

Aoi beamed, squeezing his arm, as she pulled him ahead with her.

He was right. This was a battle amongst the students. The winner, Ash mused, was the green-haired boy standing on the other end, with his standoff-ish and slightly arrogant pose, his hands on his hips and a condescending expression on his face. The boy reminded him so very much of Gary that Ash couldn't help but feel slightly irritated by his presence.

"Fancy a second round, Joe? I assure you, I'll go easy on you this time." As if to make sure that his point reached the other boy, the green-haired boy's pokémon—a rather intimidating Scyther, snorted at the fallen Ivysaur.

The black-haired boy, whom Ash assumed to be Joe, shook his head. "It won't change anything. I'll just lose to your pokémon because of type disadvantage."

"You know," Ash spoke before he realized it himself. "Type advantage can only take you so far. There are ways to counter it just as easily."

It seemed that his sudden comment was what made the boy—Joe, notice him. Pushing himself off the ground, the black-haired boy gave a withering glare at the stranger. "Really? You think that you can back up your words against this guy?" He sharply pointed towards the green-haired one, who seemed to be preening at his _hard-earned_ praise.

"Really? You think that you can win against Drew?" Another rather short, black-haired, bespectacled boy who stood right next to the green-haired one—Drew, Ash guessed—seemed to look _through_ him that _at_ him. "Drew has the highest score in all of the simulations, and he is the one who's successfully won through each of Sabrina's and Surge's simulations without a single loss."

Ash's facial features contorted, as his lips almost twisted upward, failing to keep from smirking.

"-and his pokémon are all at 90+ levels, with a perfect team taking into account all possible type advantages. By my calculation, he is currently at Semi-finalist level for the Indigo League Conference."

A slight throaty sound was the only indication that Ash had tried and failed to hold back the chuckle.

"—and by the end of the year, he would be able to beat the Elite Four's pokémon, based on the simulation data I gathered from his performances."

Ash couldn't stop himself any further. He guffawed, his palms hitting his thighs as he nearly fell down in laughter, much to the other boy's confusion.

"What? Is there something funny?" The bespectacled boy questioned. Drew simply looked half-amused, half-bored at Ash's shenanigans.

"Sorry, sorry!" Ash held up his hands in surrender. "I couldn't stop myself when you started comparing him to the Elite Four."

"—I'm not comparing!" The bespectacled boy retorted in aggravation. "It is based on my calculation of the simulations."

"Listen uh—what's your name again?"

"Max." Said bespectacled boy replied, his glasses shining with a hint of condescension in his voice.

"Right, Max. You cannot just blurt things out like that based on simulations. A real battle out there with the Elite is a completely different thing that the simulations you might face here." He wasn't joking. He knew for a fact that Cynthia, or any of the Elites he had encountered could easily defeat him without batting an eye, should they stop holding back. He wasn't even powerful enough to face Paul and try for a chance at victory, and Paul was not even a League winner. He'd know.

"Big words." Max claimed. "Care to prove it against him in a—" Max used air-quotes to emphasize his next words, "—real battle?"

Drew raised an eyebrow gracefully, as if waiting for him to deny and walk away with an excuse.

"Uh… sure. Why not!" came the nonchalant reply.

It might just have been his own tiredness playing tricks, but Joe felt a strange premonition that by asking this stranger to battle with Drew, he had set forth something _terrible_ at Pokémon Tech Academy. Perhaps that was why, despite his wish to see the outcome of the battle between the two, Joe acted on his sudden urge to flee and bring the issue to someone with more voice at the Academy than his green-haired classmate.

* * *

"Scyther is unable to battle." A shell-shocked Max muttered out, amongst an equally stupefied audience.

Ash folded his arms on his chest, staring at the green-haired trainer in front of him, who seemed to having a certain level of trouble digesting the fact that his no-doubt intimidating specimen of a Scyther had folded like a pack of cards against his Poliwrath.

It had taken twenty seconds. Twenty _fucking_ seconds.

"But—how?" Max bawled. "Scyther held a type advantage, and used all the correct moves to the absolute precision. There is no way a fighting-type should-"

Ash raised an eyebrow at the over-enthusiastic and more than a little annoying brat.

"That," Drew spoke, addressing Ash for the first time, "was a wonderful battle." The green-haired trainer swept his fingers over his hairs, before extending it out towards Ash, who took it. "I must say, you have a rather well-trained Poliwrath, to make it put a stand against my Scyther, even if it was already tired from its former battle."

Ash almost frowned. All right, so that what it was going to be like.

"but still," Drew went on, "I know potential when I see one. In a year, I can make that Poliwrath better than what it presently is, maybe even good enough to use it for the Indigo Conference. Say what, how you would feel about selling your Poliwrath?"

Ash opened his mouth to stop a certain someone before something _else_ happened. Unfortunately, Drew hadn't noticed the sudden _terror_ in Ash's expressions and nonchalantly went on. "I cannot afford to waste so much time on capturing a Poliwag and evolve it all the way. Besides, Politoed are better in the coordinator business. Say-"

Ash raised his hands to stop the inevitable. "I don't think that would be-"

 _Too late._

"—how does two thousand pokedollars sound to-bluhbluhbluh-"

And Drew was bodily raised off the ground and shot all the way to the wall, several yards away. A classic example of usage of the traditional _water gun_ attack, only one empowered with someone of Poliwrath's level of power and finesse.

"—a good idea." Ash finished lamely, as he turned to give a blank stare at the tadpole pokémon.

"Poli!" Said pokémon gave him a blank stare, as if to say— "Duh!"

Aoi patted his back, as if in consolation.

"That, I must admit," an amused voice called out from his back, "was the most hilarious thing I've seen this month."

Ash turned around, only to lock eyes with an _extremely gorgeous_ girl, with jet-black hair falling down to her waist, bright blue eyes and a pleased expression on her face, one that made him think that he had just won her a lottery.

"Um… do you think Drew is all right?" Joe asked from behind the girl with a voice full of concern and disbelief.

"Hi!" The girl extended her right hand, _not_ at Ash, but at his somewhat confused Poliwrath, holding onto the tadpole's left fist, shaking it warmly. She gave Ash a conspiratorial wink, before turning to said tadpole. "I'm the School President of Pokémon Tech, and from today, your biggest fan-just for doing that to the nuisance." She turned to Ash. "You can call me Giselle."

And Poliwrath preened. Rather exuberantly.

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys! Well, truth be told. This chapter fought me. Like, really fought me. I was conflicted over what to do with the battle with Harrison and Ash's further stay at Saffron city, and constructed and deconstructed several dozen plots, before finally settling with this. Let me know if you like it.**

 **On a side note, I finally have someone to do the grammar corrections, and very soon, I shall be posting edited versions of the previous chapters. Initially I had planned to extend the Saffron arc and then flow into Celadon, but most probably, I will be changing the course and going somewhere else. Don't worry, the next gym battle will be within the next five chapters. I think.**

 **Please leave a review if you liked the chapter. Long, expansive reviews make me more… enthusiastic about updates.**


	37. Acquaintances

"You can call me Giselle."

"…"

 _I think staring like that is supposed to be awkward for the human species, or so I am told._ Aoi kicked him mentally.

"I'm not staring." Ash blurted absent-mindedly, only to find the black-haired girl raise a single eyebrow with more grace than he had ever had in his life. Given her hair style, her dressing sense and her sense of self, Ash wondered if Cynthia and this girl had talked fashion. That was before enlightenment flooded through his mind, or perhaps it was just his common-sense kicking in.

"… I spoke that aloud, didn't I?"

Giselle laughed loudly without a care at that. "I believe you did. Either way if you are done _not staring,_ I'd love to know the name of the person responsible for today's entertainment."

"Uh. I'm Ash." He replied, partly wondering what made him so flustered around this girl. He had, if he were being honest with himself, been in the company of several beautiful girls ever since his journey began. Cynthia was extremely beautiful, and Misty had a playful aura about her, especially after one survived her externally tomboyish persona. Sabrina was beautiful in the more ruthless kind of way, as was that Battle Tower Master he had fought in the last round. He could admit that Gary's elder sister Daisy was extremely _hot_ too, and she never missed a chance to try get him flustered around her using outrageous comments and innuendos from time to time, and even then, he hadn't been so flustered around her. But this girl was-

Aoi mentally kicked him again.

"—uh, right. Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town."

"Ash," Giselle repeated, as if tasting how the name sounded to her ears, "I'm Giselle. Pleased to meet you." She extended her hand out to him this time, shaking his own with a sense of extreme confidence, before turning to look at his companion. "And you are?"

"She's Aoi." Ash answered automatically, "she's a friend of mine, accompanying me for my travels."

As if to agree with whatever he had just said, Aoi returned a soft smile. Either way, it seemed enough for Giselle to disregard her, and refocus her attention on Ash.

 _If only the others were so heedless of my presence._ Aoi sent Ash a mental image, slightly discomforted at the other boys who were _not at all_ ogling her, while trying to pretend otherwise. As if to make a point, Ash pulled Aoi slightly closer to him, said _person_ only too happy to comply.

The fact that Giselle's lips curved upwards so very slightly at that shift in his body language had nothing to do with that. Instead, she focussed on Ash. "I believe you are not associated with our Academy?"

"Uh—no, not really. I just came in to see a friend of mine who studies here."

Giselle looked interested. "Oh? And who's that?"

Ash rummaged through his pocket to require the card. "Misty. Misty Waterflower from Cerulean city?"

Giselle looked slightly taken aback. "You are Misty's friend? Like _the_ Misty's friend?"

Ash felt confused. "I didn't know that Misty was that famous, I mean—she's the gym leader and-"

"Bro," It was one of the other boys-read _henchmen-_ that had initially gathered around Drew before Poliwrath had given the green-haired boy a perfect experience of his water-gun shot. "—Misty is like the _man-hater_ of the school. She hates people on general principle."

"Yeah, she even threatened to release her Gyarados on the last boy that asked her out to a date." Another said.

"Even Drew keeps away from her. I heard that she said that she'd tie him and throw him amidst Sharpedo." A more shell-shocked one spoke, with eyes that strangely reminded Ash of a war-veteran. "Knowing her, she'd pull it off too."

"Maybe she's just using him for her heinous ploys?" Another one exclaimed with something like sadness in his voice. The person, a bespectacled dirty-blonde-haired, lanky fellow, spoke up, staring at Ash with something akin to pity.

"Uh—I think you might be exaggerating." Ash subconsciously stepped back.

"Welcome to the club brother." The dirty-blonde-haired one continued. "To be Misty Waterflower's friend is no easy task. It is not something we wished upon ourselves but we need to carry it on our head for the rest of our pitiful lives. Trust me, I've been in your shoes and had the same doubts on my life."

Beside him, Aoi was running circles inside her head, wondering how in hell had she _not gotten along_ with someone so territorial. Perhaps there might have been something to the _never judge something from its cover_ crap that her first master used to go on and on about.

"Uh," Ash took another step back, only to find his left-hand touching Giselle's, who _smiled_ back at him. "Either way, why have you come looking for her over here?"

"Well, you see—Misty kind of told me to visit her here when I passed the area. She was in a hurry to get here and I had some business to take care of."

"Hang on, so _you_ are that _trainer_ she is travelling with?" Giselle raised both eyebrows in surprise. And then, she pushed herself on her ankles, trying to look past Ash, as if she had missed seeing something important about him.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked, not at all feeling comfortable with all the attention.

"Aren't you supposed to have a Pikachu and everything?"

Contrary to what most people who _might_ have heard Ash's story of starting out as a trainer might have thought, Ash did not immediately immerse himself with feelings of disappointment and rage and a bundle of other negative emotions.

"…No?" He answered, slightly confused. "Why would I have a Pikachu with me?"

"And where is your purple hat?" Giselle went on.

"My… what?" Ash oddly remembered the old, red, Pokémon League hat he had worn when starting out with Bagon, but the blasted thing had been lost during the aftermath of the St. Anne. And frankly, after being through everything he had experienced, applying for that stupid hat again felt kind of lame. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about the thing.

"Yeah," Giselle drawled slowly, as if speaking to a slow child. "Misty told me over phone how she's been travelling with a boy that wore a hat and had a Pikachu on his shoulder, along with a-a—what was it that she said? Something along a _middle-aged paedophile,_ I think." Giselle paused. "Either way, I suppose I owe you a cup of coffee just for doing that to Drew. Come along."

 _Just what the hell kind of shenanigans was Misty up to?_

"I think you are mistaken." Ash tried his best to disprove the hypothesis around his person. "I'm Ash Ketchum, and she travelled with me from Cerulean to Cremini Town, from where she went ahead to get to this place, and I took a different path."

"Cremini Town? Isn't that the place with the Battle Tower?"

"I've heard that they are really tough, and Elite-level-"

"—Yeah, and pretty dangerous too-"

Ash ignored the ongoing commentary around him. He had started to walk ahead subconsciously, quickly falling in steps behind Giselle while some of the henchmen who had deserted their fallen leader had begun to accompany him. He was fairly thankful that the tiny, bespectacled nuisance wasn't one of them.

"Don't tell me that a pretty girl like you is also from the boonies." Trip muttered, glancing at Aoi.

"Oh no, I'm not from there. I never saw past that island where I lived." Aoi spoke up.

Ash suppressed an urge to smack his face. "What she means is, she's had a pretty restrained childhood, back at home."

"Is that so?" Giselle asked, her eyes shining with curiosity. She wasn't sure but there was something about this _girl_ that _Ash_ was very much intent on hiding. And she wanted to know what it was.

It was just a hobby. Some people collect tickets. Others collect coins. Giselle collected secrets. And even more so, when something interesting just walked into her den. Whatever this _Aoi_ was, Giselle felt remarkably sure that she was certainly not… natural. Her skills at psychometry were remarkable, albeit limited, and she was certainly interested in understanding what this _thing_ in front of her truly was.

"Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking, that is?" Ash spoke up, shaking Giselle out of her personal reveries.

"Me?" She beamed. "I'm from Cinnabar Island. I just completed my final year discoursing pokémon breeding and inheritance here at the Academy."

"So, you're not a trainer?" Ash asked. By the way the others seemed to tread carefully around her, he had assumed that she was at least someone on par with, if not better than the green-haired nuisance.

"Oh no, I can hold my own in a fight, but I'm no battler." Giselle admitted with a slight colouring of her cheeks. "I want to start with being an assistant to my grandfather and aid in his research, once the convocation is over."

"Convocation?"

Giselle gave him a surprised look. "Didn't Misty tell you anything? She just rushed in the day before the exams started, and left in a hurry as soon as they ended. She didn't even wait for the Convocation ceremony due in a few weeks."

"Giselle's going to be the valedictorian at the event." One of the other boys commented, making said girl blush again.

 _The list keeps on building._ Ash convinced himself that he had just not thought of that. Instead, he opened his mouth. "Did Misty tell you why she was in a hurry?"

Giselle shrugged. "No idea. She's especially elusive about that. Says something about proving something to someone. I assumed it is about her sisters again."

"Oh." Ash murmured, remembering Misty's expression the day she had decided to leave Ash at Cremini Town and continue her journey by self.

"So, you are from?" The dirty-blonde-haired boy asked.

"Pallet Town."

"The boonies?" Said individual expressed with something akin to dislike.

"Excuse me?" Ash narrowed his eyes. He loved Pallet Town and everything about it. He would just not stand at some-

"Stop messing with him, Trip." Giselle admonished, before turning to her newest acquaintance. "Ignore Trip. He has an issue with Kanto's… well, more rural outlook. Something about getting lost in a forest and falling on his head when he was small, I think."

"I did not!" Trip retorted hotly. Everyone ignored him.

"So, Ash was it?" One of the other boys asked him. "You are a wandering trainer like the others?"

Unsure if he liked the description, Ash nodded his head a little. "You can say that, though, I think you are missing out on the adventure."

"Hah!" Trip scowled. "As if anything in the boonies could even afford to be called an adventure—Ouch!" He began rubbing his head with his left hand, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Giselle asked.

"It felt like someone just thrashed me in the head."

Ash did his best not to look at Aoi, who by herself, was trying her best not to look conspicuous. If Giselle suspected anything, her face certainly did not betray her innermost thoughts.

"You are trying for the Indigo Conference, I take it. Judging from that, you must be coming from the Saffron and heading for Celadon, right?" Giselle hypothesized.

"Pretty much." Ash admitted. "I kind of lost track of time for some circumstances, and am a little late with gathering the badges."

"Eh? A newbie?" Trip commented. "How did you manage to overpower Drew then?"

"Because I went easy on him and he took undue advantage of that." An agitated voice growled behind his back, enough for Ash to feel that he was _not_ going to _like_ whatever was about to come next.

Ash turned to face a certain angry green-haired boy, fully drenched and agitated, his right fist holding a pokeball in his hand, as he shoved the pokeball right ahead at his face, missing Ash by a couple of inches.

"Listen you brat," Drew snarled, "I hereby challenge you for an official three-on-three battle, over the ownership of that blasted Poliwrath!"

 _Oh boy._

* * *

There are moments in life when one feels that all one needs is to take a step back, and then slap the hell out of a moron, if only to hope for said person to be less of a nuisance in one's life. For Giselle, this was exactly the same sort of moment. Between herself and Drew, she had wasted a lot of time, effort and feelings, in her blindness, seeing him for something that he wasn't. The bastard had been her boyfriend for the last two years, and it had only been months that she had come to her senses and broken up with him. From then on, the green-haired boy had been a right prat, boasting his proficiency at battle (something she would have to grudgingly respect) and his family's connections, despite the fact that the Academy catered to the whims of the ultra-rich. Sadly, it seemed nobody had bothered to explain the last bit to Drew.

And thus, everything was what it was.

"In case you did not understand, _Drew,"_ Giselle spoke slowly, as if speaking to a dull, very dull child. "I just asked out Mr. Ketchum here for a cup of coffee. Surely you and your stupid shenanigans can wait while I am done discussing, or have you forgotten even that part of civilized human behaviour?"

Aoi snickered.

Drew looked like he had been slapped. "How—what do you mean asked him out on-?"

"I meant what I said." Giselle snapped. "Someone had to snap you out of your narcissistic little dream world, and land you down to earth. It is unfortunate that this someone had to be a stranger and not a student of the Academy."

"But Giselle-" Max spoke up, only to be silence immediately by a livid glare.

"Already, I have had enough of you sullying the name of our prestigious institution by openly challenging someone without prior discussion on it, in public, only to lose horrendously to his pokémon. Then you behaved like an arrogant ass and demanded the victor's pokémon like the whole world runs on your family's fortune."

"But it-" Max tried.

"The adults are talking." Aoi put in, shutting Max up for good. Or maybe because no one had ever been that blunt with the hyperactive boy.

Drew narrowed his eyes. "Is this some way of trying to make me feel bad for-"

Giselle raised her hands in frustration, as was vivid from her clenching her fists tight. Ash wondered if her palms were going to bleed. "You know what—just go to hell. Ketchum and I-"

"All right," Drew waved off, trying to appear cool about it. "You go have your little coffee date if that is what helps you sleep at night. I'll just wait for—Ketchum, was it?" He glanced at Ash with a condescending expression. "Don't forget. A three on three battle, and if I win, that blasted tadpole is mine."

"I refuse."

"…"

"…"

"—Did you just refuse him like that?" Trip asked, after ten seconds of confusion. Normally, a challenge from Drew was either met with a brave face, or by a denial. It was the first time someone had the audacity to-

"Yes." Ash replied easily. "It is not a proper bargain."

"Huh?"

"He's right." Giselle spoke up, slightly taken aback by his sudden denial. "You have not put anything on your side of the bet."

"What do you mean?"

 _How dense is this guy?_ Aoi mused.

"I don't care about any bet." Ash remarked coldly. "My pokémon are my friends, not my property. I do not _sell_ my friends."

"Not even for two thousand pokedollars?" Drew waved the notes right in front of him, dangling them in front of Ash's eyes.

 _This guy doesn't really seem to get it, does he?_ Ash mused. "If you really want a battle, I will give you one. Trying to get me to sell my pokémon is worthless."

"—which is just another way of excusing yourself out of it." Drew mocked. "I _want_ that Poliwrath, and I will bloody well, have it. Either you accept my challenge, or accept your defeat."

"Ketchum, I mean, Ash," Giselle interrupted before he could retort back, "—if you do not mind, could you please accept his challenge? I believe you can defeat him again?"

Aoi lifted an eyebrow at the turn of events.

"However, Drew here will put my _gift_ on the line, unless you are afraid to do so too, are you Drew?"

"Huh? What are you talking about-? -of course, I have no problem. It will stay with me anyway."

Ash turned to the black-haired girl for an explanation. Whatever this gift was, it was something of meaningful significance to either of them. Not for the first time, he wondered if arriving inside this madhouse they called an institution was a good idea in the first place. He glanced at Aoi, who was certainly _not_ giving him a look that said— _See? This is why coming to meet Misty was a bad idea._

 _You have that look on your face._ Ash thought out loud.

Aoi gracefully raised an eyebrow. _What look?_

 _The one that says that something crazy is going to happen around me and you are not going to do anything to stop it._

 _You are seeing things._ Aoi smiled with a straight face. Illusion or not, the Ninetales managed to bring out the best and worst aspects of human expressions.

Ash let out a sigh, before turning to Drew. "Fine. I accept. A three on three battle, no substitutions allowed. Does that sound good to you?"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Drew chortled. "Let us allow Giselle to have her fancy cup of coffee with her friend, and then, we will have the match in the inner compound. Wouldn't want the others to miss such entertainment, would we?"

Giselle opened her mouth, before shutting it back, only to glance back at Ash, and then even more surprisingly, Aoi, before settling on an easy expression at Drew. "Fine. We will have your entertainment." She cast a firm gaze at Trip. "Get the Main Stadium free, and call in the rest of the students. We will see just how great Drew is."

* * *

He put down the cup of coffee. "Is this the time when you explained how I got dragged into this bullshit?"

Sometimes, it was just easier to get to business. Plain and simple. He had come in to meet Misty, and Misty wasn't here. The green-head and his henchmen could get blown off to kingdom-come with just one flamethrower from Salamence, and Salamence would do it gladly. But no, instead, here he was, sipping on some _really nice_ coffee, while _chitchatting_ with this girl he had never really met before in his life, and yet, had agreed to a face-off with that douche in front of the entire school.

How did a random school-visit turn into something this crazy? Ash glanced at Aoi, whose expression seemed to say— _I don't want to say I told you so but, I told you so._

"You know, you can just say it out loud." He muttered, not minding Giselle's presence in their midst.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Aoi smiled back, and there that serene expression was back in her face.

Aoi would make a good politician, Ash was learning.

Giselle cleared her throat. "This… _Bullshit,_ is me taking advantage of your presence to get something done, something that I haven't managed to accomplish over the last couple of months."

"All you had to do was to shake hands with a Poliwrath." Ash replied dryly.

Giselle chuckled. "Don't worry. As much as I'm thankful for it, I am safely assuming that you can send him flying."

"And your assumptions are based on?" Aoi asked. "You have barely seen him battle."

 _On the data from psychometric analysis that told me that he can kick Drew's ass. The same data that told me that you are everything but human, and can kill all of us without blinking an eye._ Giselle smiled and opened her mouth to answer. "Intuition, I suppose?"

The sudden flicker of crimson in Aoi's pupils was probably due to the standard lighting appliance in the room.

"Seriously, it is like the universe finds her amusement by putting me into these situations." Ash muttered, as he took another sip.

"All you had to do was befriend a certain redhead out of nowhere." Giselle joked.

Ash levelled a single stare at her, that told her all he thought about her contribution to the discussion.

Giselle sucked her breath in, before abruptly speaking out. "About this gift, you see, Drew and I… were a couple for quite some time, before I realized what a dick he had truly was. My grandfather, well he is a famous researcher and credited with the resurrection of a certain prehistoric pokémon."

That perked Aoi's interest. "Prehistoric?"

"Pokémon that succumbed to disasters thousands of years ago and were fossilized. At present, my grandfather is perhaps the only one in the world who has successfully resurrected a fossilized pokémon from its DNA without League funding."

"I thought all prehistoric research were officially patented with Devon Corp for the next hundred years or so." Ash muttered offhandedly.

 _Oh, I wonder who told you that._ "I'm surprised. I didn't realize you were the scholastic type to check out into these stuffs. Most people don't even know about prehistoric pokémon, forget the patents with Devon Corp."

Ash had an annoying smile on his face. Impulsive or not, he did know that the best solution to certain situations was to keep one's mouth shut.

"What kind of prehistoric pokémon is this?" Aoi asked bluntly.

"A fire/bug type. It's called Larvesta." Giselle answered. "The only one of its classification in the world, and no, it is not officially recorded in the League Database."

Without further ado, Ash checked his Pokedex, which only confirmed her point. There was no information about a pokémon species that had a dual typing of Fire and Bug.

"Is that a Pokedex?" Giselle perked up. "Wow, I didn't think those things were up for sale."

"They aren't." Ash replied offhandedly. "Professor Oak gave it to me."

"You know Professor Oak?" Giselle inquired. "Oh right, Pallet Town. I was wondering why the name sounded familiar. Samuel Oak is your sponsor, right?"

Ash nodded.

"Damn!" The black-haired girl muttered. "Some people have all the luck."

Ash and Aoi rolled their eyes.

"Back to the matter at hand-" Aoi stressed.

"Yes, yes." Giselle replied with a tinge of annoyance. "Grandpa gave me one of the limited specimens he has reared in his lab. He told me to help it grow up, and that it would be good practice for a breeder to rear a pokémon with no prior information to rely on."

"I… see." He didn't.

"And then, I got all lovey-dovey and decided to gift it to that jerk." Giselle complained. "He has had it with him ever since."

"Why don't you—you know, just ask him to give it back?"

Giselle looked sheepish. "Out of fear that my grandpa would snatch it away from him when he found out, I _might have_ made an official transaction, selling it to him in exchange for a single pokedollar. It got him all rights to have Larvesta as his own."

"So, what's the issue?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow. "You want it back because you aren't together?"

"The issue is that Larvesta is an infant, a baby." Giselle retorted passionately. "Even I can see that the little thing needs proper care, and not kept stuffed away inside a pokeball for eternity till it grows up. Drew decided that he could not use it for battles and couldn't afford the time to care for it and help it grow."

"I do not understand." Ash retorted. "If you cannot care for a pokémon, I see no problem in giving it to someone who can."

"What she means to say is," Aoi interjected. "Giving it away would give the impression that he is _unable_ to take care of it."

"Right. Ego." Ash muttered, before calmly placing the cup of coffee on the desk and standing up.

"What—what happened?" Giselle asked, wondering if she had pushed things a little too far.

"Well," Ash shrugged. "The moron over there has challenged me for a match, so I seem to have my job cut out for me." He paused for giving a levelled stare at her. "Ensure this doesn't happen again with Larvesta. I have… issues, with people mistreating pokémon."

"…Sure thing."

* * *

Ash had to admit. The battle arena inside the compound was _amazing._ Come to think of it, it was even better and grander than the Cerulean and Pewter gyms. There were two podiums extended outward from the entrances on either side, with a large bowl-like battlefield around ten feet or so below us, extending out over an area of three thousand square feet. The arena was covered with a rock terrain, with sand and dust all over the place. This was the kind of battle arena over which League conferences should be fought over, and instead, it was used for private skirmishes between students, provided by an over-indulgent institution that catered to the needs of the ultra-rich.

"This will be a three on three battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, who has unwittingly challenged our favourite, _Drew."_ Trip gloated into the megaphone, as he stood in the referee position. Sitting in the gallery, were _hundreds_ of people—students, and even some teachers, waiting for the match in high-spirits. Come to think of it, Drew and Giselle must have had a lot of say in the events and activities of the school. That, or there was something Ash was missing.

 _Technically, he was the one to challenge me, not the reverse._ Ash didn't say.

"Drew will be choosing the first pokémon. No Substitutions. The battle will cease when either of them have lost all three pokémon. Let the battle… begin!"

Drew raised his pokeball into the air in a grand show. "I'll show you what it means to have _really_ powerful pokémon. Go win," he threw the pokeball—ultraball, Ash corrected himself— "Flygon!"

From the looks of it, the thing looked like an overgrown, green dragonfly of some sort, but Ash knew better. It seemed that the nights he spent reading about pokémon from the Pokedex hadn't been in vain. Of course, he could hardly claim that he could recognize all of them from sight—that was a boast not even someone like Cynthia would make. However, this particular species was something he was erudite in.

 _A ground/dragon type, eh?_ He mused. Regardless of the seemingly harmless appearance, Flygon were rather powerful, with an immense variety of skills that only augmented their Dragon attribute. Using a terrestrial pokémon would only put him at a massive disadvantage, and hence, Magnus was out. However, he had just the pokémon that could be used against this particular opponent.

"Are you ready to accept defeat already?" Drew drawled, misreading Ash's silent observation as indecision. "I would understand. After all, dragon-types do not accept amateurs as their trainer."

"You are right." Ash replied calmly.

"Hah!" the green-haired one was ecstatic. "So, you accept your defeat already?"

"No. That was not what I meant." Ash corrected him. He lifted out a pokeball from his belt, and raised it high, before hitting the release button. "Show him your power, Salamence."

The red light condensed into the large, bluish dragon with bright, red wings, who proceeded to let out an earth-shattering roar. Beating his wings powerfully, Salamence soared up into the air in a somersault, before levelling a glare at the Flygon, who it assumed was its opponent. The fact that he was facing another dragon head-on only made him more excited about the oncoming fight.

The crowd fell silent.

Aoi smirked at the gaping expression on Giselle's face. Whatever the girl's abilities might have been, she had certainly not seen that one coming. After all, a Salamence was regarded as one of the most dangerous pokémon out there in the wild. Even facing an angry Charizard was a better option than to encounter a wild Salamence.

"You have a dragon-type too?" Trip asked with a slightly envious tone.

Ash smirked. "Salamence, let's start with a flamethrower."

"Defend with sandstorm, and use dragon rush to attack." Drew retorted.

Ash had to admit. It was a good strategy. The revolving barrier of sand around Flygon was an effective barrier for most long-ranged attacks. The use of Dragon Rush only combined it to create a formidable attacking move, fused with an excellent defense. Perhaps, the general confidence everyone had about Drew's abilities weren't all that over bloated after all.

Fortunately, he had just the move to send a reply back. It was something he had been teaching the newly evolved dragon while waiting for a confirmation for a gym battle in Saffron.

"Use twister."

Salamence let out a loud roar, as draconic energy began to swirl all around him. In a couple of seconds, the swirling vortex had sucked in air and sand to create a vicious sandstorm, only one that was propelled by draconic energy in its very core. Dragons, Ash had learnt from Cynthia, had a common characteristic that they shared with the Ghost-type. Both were vulnerable to attacks of their own type, and both, were _empowered_ by energies of their own type.

Case in point. The draconic energy swirling up in the form of the twister-sandstorm combination, was Salamence's own, and thus, was temporarily increasing Salamence's own power, just like using Ominous Wind increased Gengar's own powers. On the contrary, Flygon was going to be _very much_ vulnerable since the draconic energies headed for it were foreign, and thus, extremely dangerous to its health.

The two swirling sandstorms, with the two dragons in its center, collided into each other, the mutually-antagonistic air patterns blasting out in a tremendous explosion, as something akin to a green blur shot off from the air, and slammed down into the dust beneath. When the dust cleared, Salamence was still in the air, beating his wings powerfully, while Flygon was down on the ground, bruised all over and doing its level best to get up.

The crowd had gone completely silent, and frankly, Ash preferred it that way. He wasn't all that acclimatized to battling amidst cheering crowds. Gary could have that for he cared.

"Flygon," Drew spoke, managing to get off his temporary state of shock. "Use rest."

Ash smiled. It was _certainly not_ something that made shivers run through the green-haired boy's midrib. "Use Draco Meteor."

It was only too easy. Why? Because the temporary rise of draconic energy through the twister could be instantly channelled through this technique. This particular attribute of dragons was what made them very close to a perpetual motion machine under certain circumstances. It was also why Cynthia had made it a point for Garchomp to achieve complete mastery of Draco Meteor.

Salamence lifted his long neck upward, gathering the still swirling draconic energy and condensing into a bright orange sphere, before sending it up into the air. It rose several feet upward, before exploding out with bright yellow light.

The Draco meteor fell.

Where there was initially a Flygon trying to restore its power temporarily, now was a completely incapacitated creature, buried amidst the same sands it held an apparent mastery of. Or at least, it would have had, if not for less-than-adequate training.

"You are right." Ash spoke at last. "Dragon types do not accept amateurs."

* * *

Aoi could not help but softly smile at her master's expertise and confidence. The aura he was oozing, the level-headedness he was displaying, and the iron-clad control he was demonstrating over the flow of battle—all of them just made her remember _why exactly_ she chosen to give him her allegiance back on the island. By the looks of things, she wasn't going to be disappointed. Her master was the _right person_ she had been awaiting all this time, and regardless of how many moons it might need, Ash Ketchum would become the one that would set everything alright.

 _I just have to wait until he has chosen. Until then, he will need to be protected._

She knew her master. Unlike any other battle she had witnessed him participating so far, this one was completely different. She knew the way her master's mind worked. This wasn't a battle that decided winners out of opponents. This was a _show._ Drew had already lost. It was simply a matter how _badly_ he would lose.

"Salamence," she heard her master speak, raising his pokeball. "You did well. Now get some rest."

The bluish dragon did not seem to agree with his decision, but nevertheless, agreed to it. Letting out a moan, the dragon allowed the beam of red light to hit him, before dissolving into a mesh of light that was soon sucked into the pokeball in her master's hand.

"First point goes to Ash Ketchum." The annoying referee declared, with a tone that suggested that he would like nothing better than to choke her master on his blood. As if… She mentally sneered.

"You were just lucky, Ketchum." Drew answered. "Let's see if your luck holds on for a second time, eh?" He lifted another one of those special pokeballs and threw it into the air. "Go, Bastiodon."

The pokémon that materialized midway in the air, before slamming into the rocky terrain looked like a dinosaur, more specifically, the triceratops variety. For a moment, Ash wondered if this was another prehistoric pokémon Drew had gotten his hands onto, and if not, then _how the hell_ did he acquire such rare pokémon. By its very appearance, he could infer that the creature had both steel as well as rock attributes—a rather powerful defensive combination. Considering that most rock types were able to exercise ground-type moves, he mused that this creature's move sets were very much like Rhydon. That said, while using Rhydon was an excellent choice for this battle, he wanted to try something else.

"I choose you," He pressed the release button of the ball in his hand. "Lairon."

"And Ash Ketchum has chosen Lairon as his second battler, a steel/rock type, just as Drew's Bastiodon. Am I the only one sensing a pattern here?" Trip blared into the megaphone. Apparently, the job of refereeing was not enough for him to ignore his self-imposed duties of running commentary over the ongoing showdown.

"So, you now have the audacity to mock me by choosing the same types? What? Afraid Type advantages are going to screw you over?" Drew mocked.

 _He does talk a lot._ Ash mused to himself. _Note to self, too much talking during a battle lowers your position in the opponent's eyes. Never do it._

"Lairon, charge."

The iron-armour pokémon was only too happy to comply to his command. Ash could admit, he hadn't really taken that much of an active stance in training Lairon. He had the excuse of being through a rocking journey after starting out from Pallet Town the second time, and then staying at the Ainsworth Mansion for that long, but it made it no less true that he had been very lax when it came to Lairon. Was it because he hadn't caught Lairon like the others and traded him instead? Was that why he had subconsciously forsaken the iron armour pokémon's training and dropped it on Rhydon instead?

Either way, he would have to ensure that he took an active approach to training him from now on. Perhaps he could arrange a shift from his existing team, and train the lesser-trained members, like Lairon, Trevenant and Gyarados instead.

"Use Ancient power and go with Bulldoze."

Ash frowned. Ancient Power increased all of the user's stats, and attacked with a rare, alien force. Combining that with a ground-type attack like Bulldoze would only produce devastating results.

"Lairon, run away towards the rocks."

He ignored the laughter stemming from the audience around him. They didn't know better.

As expected, Bastiodon came charging into Lairon, empowered with Ancient Power, as it used his momentum to get close enough to slam into the now departing Lairon, who was heading towards the rocks a little ahead. The moment Lairon was close enough to his destination, Ash ordered his next command.

"Use Rock Slide and shift to the left."

Rock Slide. A pretty interesting move in the right hand. Because of their sturdy and heavy body mass, Rock-types like Rhydon and Lairon were sedentary targets most of the time. The perfected use of Rock Slide did not grant them speed, but it did grant an ability to suddenly sprint off to a short distance for a very small time. And that, was what Ash needed.

Lairon pushed the ground beneath his hind limbs, and _sprinted off_ to the left, only to cease motion, as he watched the charging Bastiodon race past him. With Ancient power added to Bulldoze, it would be near-impossible for Bastiodon to stop itself—without of course, slamming his forelimbs into the earth, which would, in that case, fracture its frontal limbs and cripple it for good.

SMASH!

Bastiodon crashed into the large mass of rocks, blowing rock fragments everywhere, as it tried to pull itself out of the sprawling mess. As powerful as its horns where, its body structure did not allow it quick escape from the pit it had unwittingly dug itself into.

"Bastiodon, get out of it." Drew yelled.

Ash smiled. "Now use Rock Tomb."

Lairon raised both frontal limbs up into the air, before slamming down to the ground. As expected, the seismic waves from the attack caused rocks and boulders to rise up from the ground, all around the now severely trapped Bastiodon, who was trying to break his large face out of it.

Ash casually noticed that both Bastiodon and its trainer were in a similar setting, in their own ways.

"Earthquake."

Lairon smashed his feet again, generating powerful seismic waves that traversed to the vicinity, causing instability to the pit that Bastiodon was now on. The earth below the creature gave away, the immense weight of the large rock/steel-type not at all helping matters. With a large crash, the floor gave away, making Bastiodon fall into a deeper pit, with its large head fixated down to the ground. The rock boulders from the Rock Tomb attack too broke and fell down on its top.

Bastiodon was for all intents and purposes, buried into the ground, with his head down into the earth, his body trapped amidst fallen rock, boulders and debris. It made a cruel irony for a rock type.

Ten seconds passed by, and yet, the only things Bastiodon could do, despite its trainer's protests and commands, was to grunt in vain.

"I suggest you return Bastiodon back, so that we can move ahead with the battle." Ash replied sharply. Not sure how to refute that statement, Drew returned Bastiodon back to its pokeball.

"Second point too, goes to Ash Ketchum." Trip commented sadly.

* * *

Giselle sat on her place in the gallery, a little away from where Ash was standing, with a transfixed expression on her face. Sure, she had expected Ash to win against Drew—her own abilities gave her the _impression_ that her acquaintance was someone of the level of an intermediate trainer. The fact that his Poliwrath had managed to defeat Scyther so effortlessly had only confirmed her guess. Even so, she had had a slight suspicion that her casual ploy might have Ash lose his Poliwrath to Drew. Then again, she didn't know him well, and as such, would not feel _too bad_ should that come to happen.

This however, was not something she had seen coming. The Salamence was a sure surprise, and even more so, was Ash's ironclad control over the entire battle. She knew for a fact that Flygon was one of Drew's most powerful, if not the most powerful. The use of the earth terrain virtually made Flygon an invincible juggernaut on the battle platform. The intent was clear—use his strongest, in an environment that empowered his strongest, and acquire a decisive victory.

After all was said and done, battles were a show. A show of power. And Drew knew how to milk it for what it was worth.

Giselle reverted her glance back to Ash. It seems like her acquaintance too knew the rules of the game, and how to alter it to suit one's own desires. He had summoned a dragon, and a more powerful one at that, and defeated Flygon with just two attacks. In less than two minutes, Ash Ketchum had changed his status from being the _scapegoat challenger_ to the _most interesting person in the room._

His use of Lairon seemed very well decided too. Giselle was no expert, but even she knew that Bastiodon wouldn't stand a chance against someone with Salamence's raw power and potential. And yet, Ash had chosen an opponent that provided an even ground, and even in that, decimated and importantly, _humiliated_ Drew and his battler. It seemed like her acquaintance, regardless of his textbook hero-complex, had a mean streak a mile wide.

Giselle smiled widely. Now _this_ was a person worth her interest.

* * *

"Do you mind if I choose first this time?" Ash asked, his voice calm and yet, oozing confidence. "You have chosen twice already, so I must return the favour."

Trip made a passing glance at Drew as if to judge his own thoughts regarding it, before nodding silently. "Ash Ketchum will choose his pokémon first this time."

"Thanks, I won't disappoint." Ash grinned, releasing the pokeball in his hand. "Time to deliver a show, Gyarados."

And the world stopped making sense.

"A… Gyarados?" Trip muttered. "Now I know why this crazy guy is friends with Misty. Both are the same kind of weird."

"You have a Gyarados too?" Drew spoke, his bark having lost a lot of its bite after two repeated humiliating defeats. "I suppose I will just go with my best shot. I choose you, Swampert."

Now this was a pokémon Ash both realized and respected. Swampert. The mudfish pokémon, and the final evolution of the Hoenn native Mudkip. It had a dual typing of Ground and Water, making it an excellent battler against several types. To see it battling Gyarados would be a good opportunity. Truth to be told, he had himself played with the idea of trying to catch a Mudkip while in Hoenn.

The blue and pale-yellowing draconic serpent towered before Ash, its maw open and its eyes demonstrating all the reasons one needed to fear this voracious, destructive sea-monster, and why it was held accountable for most of the lives lost in the seas. Gyarados slammed his tail down into the sandy bed, letting out an outraged war cry.

"Swampert, use Ancient power and follow with rock throw." Drew cried out, eager to finish the battle. "We will bury this snake into the earth."

"Dragon tail." Ash returned, as said _snake_ lifted his humongous tail, which was glowing with concentrated draconic energy, using it as a whip to deflect and parry away the incoming rock projectiles.

"Use hyper beam." Drew commanded.

"Water pulse." Ash reverted.

The sphere of condensed water slammed into the emerging hyper beam, creating an explosion midway.

"Now use dragon tail on Swampert."

"Use crunch." Drew answered.

It was surreal. Swampert had leapt towards Gyarados, its claws glowing with dark energy, narrowly missing the dragon tail which razed the ground it had just stood upon. With excellent timing, it slashed into Gyarados's thick hide, and had it been any other pokémon, it would have been severely impaired.

"Use focus blast." Drew went ahead, as Swampert packed a powerful punch into the bruised area, sending Gyarados sprawling into the ground. He let out a wild grin, at being able to gain an edge after the previous battles."

"Are you okay, Gyarados?" Ash asked, only to realize its uselessness. Gyarados was already up, the latent draconic genes inside the creature making it rise up, now more fearsome after suffering injury.

"We will have our revenge." Ash spoke to the serpent. "Use ice beam on the floor."

Gyarados let out a primal roar, before showering a powerful burst of ice-cold light onto the sandy floor, enveloping the entire area with flakes of ice and snow.

 _Hook._

"Your turn." Ash taunted Drew.

 _Line._

"Hah, overconfident, are we?" Drew retorted. "Get closer, and use crunch."

Swampert leapt off from its position, claws brimming with dark energies, as it shot towards the serpent, ready for a second strike. The only problem was, the icing on the ground was a big resistance to its agility.

 _And Sinker._

"Use dragon breath." Ash commanded, as Gyarados lifted his maw upwards, before showering hot, draconic breath upon an unsuspecting Swampert, who was trying to commandeer its way through the flakes of snow.

And everyone closed their eyes, as the scorching breath hit Swampert head-on, scalding it brutally.

"Finish with dragon tail."

Gyarados let out another roar, swinging his tail, now laden with draconic energy once again, into the still somewhat recuperating Swampert, bodily lifting it up and sending it flying past the boundary line of the arena.

"…"

"…."

Silence engulfed the entire gallery for a few precious seconds.

"Swampert is unable to battle." Trip spoke with a tone of resignation. "Third point too, goes to Ash Ketchum. Ash Ketchum is the winner."

* * *

 **Sometime later.**

"I certainly did not expect that coming." Giselle admitted, as she stared at Ash without any reservation.

"And here I thought that you expected me to win." Ash teased.

"I didn't know you were this suave with the ladies." Aoi snickered from behind, making her trainer rub the back of his hairs in embarrassment.

Wanting to change the topic, he held out his right hand, revealing the tiny pokeball inside it. Without further ado, he extended it out at her. "I believe this is yours."

Giselle arched an eyebrow. Ash Ketchum seemed intent on surpassing her expectations. "You do not even know what it is you are giving to me. The only fire/bug type in the world."

"Don't care." Ash replied with all the nonchalance in the world. "It is not mine. Should you choose to show it to me, I will be pleased to meet it. That's all."

"Hmmm." Giselle closed her eyes for two seconds. "I was right."

"About what?"

She opened her eyes. It must have been a trick of the light, because her eyes were definitely not sparkling. She put her palm onto the pokeball in his hand, and pushed it back towards him. "I want you to keep it."

"…"

"…what?" She asked at his perplexed expression.

"Why are you giving this pokémon to me?" Ash expressed the confusion in his mind. "Your grandfather entrusted it to you, and you have finally gotten it back."

"Which is why I want you to keep it." Giselle replied, her voice assuring. "I think we can safely assume that you have experience in training and rearing powerful pokémon, if the battle was of any indication. Between the two of us, I'd like to think that this little buddy could use a proper trainer and grow up to be a powerful one. That is more than what I can do for it anyway."

"But aren't you studying to be a breeder? What do I know about pokémon breeding?"

Giselle _almost_ frowned. "That may be, but I am going back to my home shortly. In either way, if you want any input on breeding it, I suggest you meet my grandfather in person." She enclosed the pokeball into his palm, pushing it towards him. "Please accept it as my way of expressing gratitude."

"Huh… fine, I guess." Ash shrugged, wondering how he managed to get into such bizarre situations. "Who's your grandpa? I have some time before I need to visit Celadon city, so I might as well take the opportunity and visit him."

Giselle beamed. "His name is Blaine. Ex-Elite Four and Fire Master. He is also the gym leader of Cinnabar Island. You might have heard of him?"

"…. Blaine? Like… _The Blaine?_ The one who is regarded as the world's foremost authority on Magmar and creatures that reside in the volcano?"

"Yep. The very same."

"Blaine, is your grandfather?" Ash nearly choked. "You are Blaine's granddaughter?"

 _Hyper salivation is regarded as a symptom of insanity._ Aoi helpfully supplied.

Giselle laughed. "Yes of course. I told you, I'm from Cinnabar island. Tell me, do you already have the Cinnabar gym badge?"

"Um, no." Ash admitted, slightly flustered for some unknown reason. "But if I am heading to Cinnabar, I might as well try my hand at it."

"In that case, you should approach the volcano. The mountain can only be traversed through climbing and walking. My grandfather is especially strict about keeping flying-types away from the peak." Giselle explained. "Call it one of his quirks."

"I'll… take that in mind." Ash answered. Pidgeot was easily out of the question, and he would have to walk his way through the forest. Perhaps Magnus and Trevenant could help him out this time? He would have to think on it.

"You said you have some time before you need to be at Celadon city. If you agree, we can travel to Cinnabar together. The convocation ceremony is in three weeks. We can travel to Celadon and you can finish whatever work you have there, before leaving for Cinnabar."

"Uh… well, I actually have a month to get to Celadon. I think flying off to Cinnabar right now would be a better idea."

"Flying to Cinnabar on a Salamence from here?" Giselle looked like she was trying to taste the solution, only to find it distasteful. "Nah, you have guts. I'll give you that."

"Thanks." Flying on Salamence was not what he had planned, but there was no need to talk about that to the girl. "So… I'll see you around then? Maybe the next time I visit Cinnabar?"

"Is that a request for a date?" Giselle asked coyly, before chuckling at Ash's embarrassment. "I'm just teasing. Yeah, I'll see you later on. If not at Cinnabar, then probably at the Indigo Conference. It would provide me quality entertainment to see Drew suffer at your hands again at the conference."

"Eheheh!" Ash laughed embarrassedly. "I suppose. Very well, see you around."

"See you around." The black-haired girl wished back, nodding at Aoi with a smirk. "You too."

Aoi responded back with a certain crimson glow in her eyes, before departing with Ash.

"How interesting." Giselle muttered to herself. "I'll have to inform Grandfather about this latest stunt. I wonder what grandpa will think of him." She cast another glance at her new acquaintance's retreating form. "Yeah, I'll see you around, Ash."

* * *

 **AN: And that, ends the sub plot with the Pokémon Tech Academy. What do you think of Giselle? And what do you think about Ash's latest acquisition? Do let me know in a review.**

 **Speaking of reviews, it seems I have attracted the attention of some FLAMER who has made it the objective of his/her life to spew bullshit on each and every chapter without any reason at all. For that, I have been forced to put GUEST reviews under MODERATION to prevent unnecessary 'shitting' on the reviews section. Seriously, if you have something constructive to say, go ahead. If you do not like it, there is no point in reading every chapter like a hypocrite and spewing mindless nonsense about it. This story is not a rehash of the anime, and I have made it a point to mention this, several times, that I am openly ignoring canon lore and canon rules. In return, I have made it a point to explain each and every thing that I alter and create from scratch. Seriously people, if you don't have anything worthwhile to do with your life than pissing people off for no reason, please find a different target for your frustrations. Leave fanfiction alone.**

 **Well, I had to get that off my heart. That said, I am incredibly flattered at the attention and praise this story is getting, and I hope that I shall be able to provide quality work in the future as well. As for update schedules, I believe I am working on a 2 chapter per month schedule for now, though of course, I will try to increment that whenever possible.**

 **Thanks.**


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